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| Title |
Receiving a Fluoride Varnish Semiannually Reduces caries Incidence in Children |
| Clinical Question |
In children, does receiving a fluoride varnish twice a year compared to once a year have an effect on carries development? |
| Clinical Bottom Line |
Semiannual administration of fluoride varnishes to children is more effective at reducing caries incidence than annual administration of fluoride varnishes. |
| Best Evidence |
(you may view more info by clicking on the PubMed ID link) |
| PubMed ID |
Author / Year |
Patient Group |
Study type
(level of evidence) |
| #1) 22150341 | Arruda/2012 | Sample size was 379 children of ages 7-14 years. The population lived in rural Brazil. | Randomized Controlled Trial | | Key results | Children who received fluoride varnish twice a year had a 49% (95% CI: 31.7-66.3%) decrease in caries while children who received just one fluoride varnish had a 31% (95% CI: 24.5-37.5%) decrease in caries. | | #2) 18422711 | Lawrence/2008 | Sample size was 1276 children of ages 6 months to 5 years. The population lived in rural Canada. | Randomized Controlled Trial | | Key results | This study found no significant difference regarding fluoride varnish frequency and caries rate. When statistics from all the children were considered, there was a 24.5% (P-value = 0.070) decrease in caries. When only the statistics from those children who received two fluoride varnishes per year were considered, the decrease was 25.4% (P-value = 0.070). The study also found that children receiving three fluoride varnishes per year had the least caries. However, it was not much different from those receiving two fluoride varnishes per year. | | #3) 14965184 | Weintraub/2003 | Sample size ranged from <70/treatment group to >2500/group. Children with special needs or who are susceptible to caries | Review | | Key results | This review concluded that the majority of the completed studies found that receiving at least two fluoride varnishes per year had more of an effect on reduction of caries. One of the articles that were part of this review found that two or more varnishes per year resulted in a 37% reduction in caries whereas those who received less than two varnishes per year had results not much different from those of the control groups. | |
| Evidence Search |
fluoride varnish frequency
Filters: abstract available, full text available, 10 years, humans, clinical trial, meta-analysis, randomized controlled trial, review, systematic reviews, English
|
Comments on
The Evidence |
All evidence seems to be valid since all the study types do a good job of limiting bias and are known for being reliable and valid study types. |
| Applicability |
This topic is applicable to the use of fluoride in children as a way to prevent caries. |
| Specialty/Discipline |
(Public Health) (Pediatric Dentistry) (Dental Hygiene) |
| Keywords |
Public health, prevention, caries, fluoride, fluoride varnish, fluoride frequency, pediatrics
|
| ID# |
2507 |
| Date of submission: |
07/05/2013 |
| E-mail |
wagnerp@ohsu.edu |
| Author |
Peter Wagner |
| Co-author(s) |
|
| Co-author(s) e-mail |
|
| Faculty mentor/Co-author |
Ronald Sakaguchi, DDS, MS, PhD, MBA & Eli Schwarz, DDS, MPH, PhD |
| Faculty mentor/Co-author e-mail |
schwarz@ohsu.edu; sakaguch@ohsu.edu |
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) |
post a rationale |
| None available | |
|
Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
(FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) |
post a comment |
| None available | |
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