The effectiveness of a school-based fluoride mouth rinse programme.

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of unsupervised weekly fluoride mouth rinsing (FMR) with 10 mls of 0.2 per cent sodium fluoride on the caries increment of permanent teeth in schoolchildren aged 6-12 years over a 3 year period. Caries was assessed using DMFT and DMFS indices (WHO, 1987). Over 2000 children from 4 schools in the Johannesburg area were selected at baseline. For analysis purposes pupils were pooled into 2 groups, those who received and those who did not receive the FMR. There were significant differences in mean decayed scores after 3 years. The percentage caries reduction achieved with the FMR was approximately 15 per cent. Reductions of up to 30 per cent have been recorded in previous studies of this nature. The overall caries reduction for this study period can be considered low.