PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of antimicrobial therapy in the prevention of early childhood caries (ECC). METHODS: The study population consisted of 83 subjects (age: 12 to 19 months (x= 15.6); gender: 40 females and 43 males). Inclusion criteria included: (1) unremarkable medical history; (2) presence of 4 maxillary primary incisors (MPI) with no visible defects; (3) clinically caries free; (4) use of a nursing bottle at naptime and/or bedtime which contained a cariogenic substrate; (5) 2 consecutive ms positive cultures from pooled MPI plaque. The subjects were randomized into 2 groups. The 39 subjects in the experimental group and the 44 subjects in the control group were evaluated every 2 months during the study period. At each evaluation, the subjects had 10% povidone iodine (experimental group) or placebo (control group) applied to their dentition. Treatment failure was defined as the appearance of a white spot lesion(s) on any of the MPI during the study period. RESULTS: Using the Kaplan-Meier procedure, the estimated percents (+/- SES) of participants to experience 12 months of disease-free survival were 91 +/- 5% for those receiving treatment and 54 +/- 9% for those in the control group. Via the log-rank test, the hazard of treatment failure is statistically significantly higher in the placebo group (log-rank statistic 10.28, two-sided P=0.0013). CONCLUSIONS: These observations indicate that topical antimicrobial therapy increases disease-free survival in children at high risk for ECC.
RCT Entities:
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of antimicrobial therapy in the prevention of early childhood caries (ECC). METHODS: The study population consisted of 83 subjects (age: 12 to 19 months (x= 15.6); gender: 40 females and 43 males). Inclusion criteria included: (1) unremarkable medical history; (2) presence of 4 maxillary primary incisors (MPI) with no visible defects; (3) clinically caries free; (4) use of a nursing bottle at naptime and/or bedtime which contained a cariogenic substrate; (5) 2 consecutive ms positive cultures from pooled MPI plaque. The subjects were randomized into 2 groups. The 39 subjects in the experimental group and the 44 subjects in the control group were evaluated every 2 months during the study period. At each evaluation, the subjects had 10% povidoneiodine (experimental group) or placebo (control group) applied to their dentition. Treatment failure was defined as the appearance of a white spot lesion(s) on any of the MPI during the study period. RESULTS: Using the Kaplan-Meier procedure, the estimated percents (+/- SES) of participants to experience 12 months of disease-free survival were 91 +/- 5% for those receiving treatment and 54 +/- 9% for those in the control group. Via the log-rank test, the hazard of treatment failure is statistically significantly higher in the placebo group (log-rank statistic 10.28, two-sided P=0.0013). CONCLUSIONS: These observations indicate that topical antimicrobial therapy increases disease-free survival in children at high risk for ECC.
Authors: Robert J Berkowitz; Hyun Koo; Michael P McDermott; Mary Therese Whelehan; Patricia Ragusa; Dorota T Kopycka-Kedzierawski; Jeffrey M Karp; Ronald Billings Journal: J Public Health Dent Date: 2009 Impact factor: 1.821