Clinical Results of a multi-stage Dental Health Promotion Project (MANCIT)

Objectives: to measure the effects of a multi-stage dental health promotion project on the prevalence of nursing caries among 3-4 yr old children Methods: An RCT was established by pairing two Primary Care Group areas which were closely matched with respect to caries levels among 5 yr olds and a range of socio-demographic variables. Random allocation of the PCGs to test and control was followed by instigation of a series of interventions designed to support parents of children aged 8 to 32 months, to start and maintain positive dental health behaviours. The interventions comprised free gifts of trainer cups, toothpaste, brushes and leaflets given by Health Visitors and packages posted to homes as a series of timely, single message, reminders. Clinical examination of participants in test and control areas were undertaken in pre-school settings. Nursing and general caries were recorded by visual examination. A database was formed to collate the involvement of individual children with the interventions and their caries data. Results: 1545 children were examined in the PCG areas; test (n=839) and control (n=706). Of these 649 (77%) children in the test PCG were known to have attended developmental checks where the campaign was active and received the interventions. In the control PCG 558 (79%) children would have been eligible to receive the interventions, had they been available. Nursing caries was found among 16.6% of the children who had received the interventions. This prevalence was statistically significantly lower than that among the control children (23.5%). The differences between test and control communities were not so marked. Conclusion: Children who were participants in the MANCIT project had lower levels of nursing caries than children in the control area. The effect in the wider community was less than among children known to be intervention recipients. Funded by NHS R&D Programme