The effect of administration of tablets containing fluoride on the prevention of dental caries

Abstract

The grammer school age is the period in which the development and prevalence of dental caries is most pronounced. A potent preventive measure for dental caries is therefore a vital need at this age.In a primary school in Tokyo 211 school children ranging in age from 6 to 11 years were given a dental examination. These children had been given one fluoride tablet (1 tablet containing 0.5 mg sodium fluoride, 2, 500 I.U. of vitamin A, and 250 I.U. of vitamin D2) daily along with their school lunch since their time of entrance into the school. As a control 484 children of the same age in the same environment as this group, but who had not been given this drug, were also evaluated. A comparative study of these 2 groups was carried out by dividing them into age groups, and calculating the F value. The following results were obtained.In dental caries, number of DF teeth per child did not reveal a significant difference between the fluoride treated and control children, in each age group. However, number of DF teeth per child showed a significant difference above the age of 9, treated children showing smaller values than controls.No significant difference was noted between the treated and control groups in the percents of children with tooth surface deposit periodontal disease, and malocclusion, in each age group.These results would indicate that the administration of fluoride tablets in this way bring about a preventive effect on the development of dental caries after about 3 years of administration. This drug is therefore useful in the prevention of dental caries in primary school pupils.