A pilot caries prevention program for young children attending Family Health Center (Tipot Halav)

Objectives: Establishing an efficient early detection and prevention system of dental caries by public health nurses for children aged 1-5 attending Family Health Centers ("FHC") for routine check ups and vaccinations.
Methods: Public health nurses from three FHCs in the Southern District were trained in dental diagnosis and prevention. During their routine activity the nurses diagnosed the child's oral health and assessed his caries risk with a specifically developed chart. According to the caries risk, the nurse provided the parents with appropriate instructions for preventing oral disease, applied fluoride varnish or if caries or other oral lesions were diagnosed, referred him to the dentists.
Results: During the first 3 months, 405 infants attended the program, at the 3 FHCs. All the FHCs were in low SES areas. Almost all the children, 401 (98.5%), received fluoride varnish treatment, and approximately a fifth , 75 (18.5%), were referred to a dentist. The compliance and satisfaction of both parents and nurses were very high.
Conclusions: The extremely high proportion of children who required fluoride varnish application and were referred to a dentist clearly justifies the extension of the program to additional FHCs and geographic areas.