Results of a promising open trial to prevent baby bottle tooth decay: a fluoride varnish study.

One hundred thirty-three farm worker children with an average age of 17 months participated in a study of a fluoride varnish in WIC programs in the Yakima Valley of Central Washington. After parents were interviewed, the child was examined and a fluoride varnish applied to the maxillary incisors. At the six-month recall 62 children and their parents returned. Results indicated a significant decrease in decalcification from 35 percent to 21 percent and an increase in decay from 3 percent to 16 percent. The rate of decay was lower than the 30 percent found in this age-group in this population. Of 130 sound teeth at baseline, 13 percent were decayed or decalcified in six months; of 73 decalcified teeth at baseline, 51 percent were found to be sound in six months. Additional experimentation with fluoride varnish is warranted.