An update on caries prevention
Fluoride varnish applications are usually targeted at children with a high risk of caries, or where it is considered beneficial to complement the fluoride found in water, from dietary sources and toothpaste. The preventive effect of fluoride varnish has been the subject of numerous studies conducted over many years in children, adolescents and adults. There are claims that fluoride varnish can substantially reduce the incidence of caries and even reduce the number of caries related hospitalisations. However, new research published in Caries Research in June 2019, has revealed some interesting information.
LATEST NEWS – A systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness of fluoride varnish therapy in reducing the risk of developing new cavities and tooth decay-related hospitalisations was conducted with pre-school age children. After reviewing 20 past studies about the use of fluoride varnish, which included 13,650 children aged between 2 and 5 years, it was found that fluoride varnish resulted in caries on one fewer tooth surface per child who received treatment. At tooth level, no significant difference was observed between children that received fluoride varnish, and those that did not. The meta-analysis showed the risk of developing new dentine caries lesions was reduced to 12 percent for children when fluoride varnish was applied. This was described as a ‘rather modest benefit’ as a large number of children developed new dentine caries lesions regardless of fluoride varnish use. The researchers found that in a population of pre-school children with 50% caries incidence, fluoride varnish must be applied in 17 children to avoid new caries in just one child. They concluded that applied fluoride through varnish made hardly any difference for the risk of developing new caries in children. Furthermore, no study reporting on caries-related hospitalisations was found.
