A dental health education programme, including home visits, for nursery school children.

The aim of this study was to measure the effectiveness of three preventive programmes by measuring changes in oral hygiene, gingivitis and the uptake of dental care of nursery school and young primary school children living in areas of urban deprivation. The oral hygiene and gingivitis of a group of children who brushed their teeth daily at school improved during the study, but deteriorated during the summer holiday. A second group of children also brushed their teeth at school, and in addition their parents were given dental health education by a dental hygienist at home. Parents of a third group of children were given dental health education only at home. The oral hygiene and gingivitis of both the second and third groups improved and was maintained during the school holiday. The preventive programmes had little effect on the uptake of dental care in any of the study groups.