Estimation of Cost and Workforce for Dental Caries Prevention

Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the cost and workforce to control dental caries development in preschool children from a region covered by oral health team in Brazil, using Systems Dynamic modeling.
Methods: It was used Stella Architect software to estimate time and costs of fluoride varnish application and ART (atraumatic restorative treatment). The
parameters of this model were: a population of 3,000 people covered by one oral health team; average of dental caries index in the age of 5-years-old (dmft 2.4); estimation of population up to 5-year-old from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) (7%); dental material cost of 4 fluoride varnish applications (US$1.46) and one ART restoration (US$ 1.76).
Results: It was observed that the total cost for caries lesion treatment using ART and fluoride varnish were about US$900.00 and the time required for clinical assistance were 102 hours.
Conclusions: In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that early dental caries detection with treatment using fluoride varnish and ART in preschool children by oral health team can be considered a viable strategy with low costs and clinical resolution.