Method: Five hundred and seventeen children (mean age 5.6 years sd 1.1) were recruited. The effect on dental caries of teacher supervised toothbrushing, once a day, was compared with that of children who did not receive the intervention. Clinical examinations were by visual assessment only. All teeth present were assessed using the BASCD criteria (Pitts et al. 1997). Mean DMFS+dmfs values at the end of the study were compared using ANCOVA techniques with baseline values as covariates. Further analysis determined the effects of both gender and ethnicity.
Results: A total of 370 children (192 boys, 178 girls) completed the study. Baseline caries was higher (p=0.12) for boys (7.2 se0.75) compared with that for girls (5.6 se0.79). In addition the effect of the intervention was greater for girls (19.3% reduction p<0.001) than for boys (11.9% reduction p<0.001). Caries prevalence was higher (7.7 se1.1) for white children compared with that for Asian children (6.6 se1.0), black children (4.8 se1.0) or children of other racial origins (7.0 se1.4). The effect of the intervention was also greater for black children (28.9% reduction) and those of other racial origins (reduction 50.1%) compared with that for Asian children (reduction 1.5%) or white children (reduction -2.2%).
Conclusions: These results indicate that in an area of high-risk, dental caries is lower in girls than in boys and that the effect of toothbrushing, once a day, during term time, is greater for the girls than for the boys. Furthermore the effect of the intervention was minimal for white and Asian children compared with that for black children and children of other racial origins
Study supported by BCCCA, BSDA and The Sugar Bureau.