Children's Brushing Research Articles

Relationship between habits and dental health among rural Tanzanian children.

The study was done in 1982/83 as an oral health baseline for a comprehensive health project involving primary school children in rural areas of Tanzania. A number of 399 standard two pupils with a mean age of 10.9 yr were dentally examined and interviewed using closed questions. Interexaminer reproducibility for caries was 99%, inter-interviewer reliabilities for population correspondence were between 81% and 100%. DMFS + defs was 1.1 for the 92% brushing their teeth daily and 1.9 for children brushing once a week or less. The amount of plaque, calculus, and gingivitis showed no relation to brushing, if it was performed more than once a week. The effect of using chewing sticks or plastic toothbrushes was identical. Children eating cakes, biscuits and/or sweets at least three times a day seemed to have more caries than the rest, DMFS + defs being 1.5 and 1.1, respectively. Consumption of sugar cane did not show any relation to the caries amount. In one of five districts traditional removal of primary tooth germs had caused a mean loss (or deformity) of 1.0 permanent tooth, thereby being the most injurious dental condition. The study confirms the need of educational interventions. It does not indicate any justification for prompting children in general to brush more than once a day or restricting sweet snacks to less than once a day.

Influence of social norms on toothbrushing behavior of preschool children

Two hundred and eighty mothers of preschool children were interviewed in order to determine first, their children's toothbrushing habits and secondly, their expectations concerning the brushing behavior of preschool children in general. The influence of social and demographic factors on children's brushing behavior was also investigated. The results showed that the practice of toothbrushing is widespread and mothers play the central role in teaching the brushing routine. However, the social norms concerning oral hygiene were imprecise, indicating that mothers had no social support for teaching their children to brush and no information on how brushing should be carried out. Dental health educators should encourage mothers of young children to develop positive attitudes towards toothbrushing and teach them the correct technique.

Comparisons of caries prevalence of children with different daily toothbrushing frequencies

Clinical caries examinations, supplemented by bite-wing radiographs, were conducted on 290 schoolchildren. The children ranged from 12 to 15 years of age and were residents of a fluoride-deficient community in New York State. The children were divided into two groups based upon their stated daily toothbrushing frequency, namely, those brushing once or less/day and those brushing twice or more/day. Mean DMFS and DMFT scores were recorded for children in both categories. A trend was noted that more frequent brushing was associated with less caries activity. For females and male-females combined the differences in mean DMFS and DMFT scores between those children brushing once a day or less. The caries scores for males in these two brushing groups were marginally significant (P less than .05). Ninety percent of the children used fluoride-containing dentifrices. The inverse relationship between brushing frequency and caries activity may be related to the more frequent fluoride contact when the children brush.

Saturated Solution of Salt as a Dentifrice

Low-fluoride dentifrices (LFD) have been recommended for young children aiming to minimize excessive fluoride intake during tooth brushing. Given the uncertainties surrounding the clinical efficacy of such formulations, alternatives to increase their anticaries effect have been investigated.This double-blind, randomized controlled trial assessed the clinical efficacy of LFDs supplemented with Calcium Glycerophosphate (CaGP) or Sodium Trimetaphosphate (TMP) on the progression of dental caries in the deciduous dentition.Children (average age 48 months old) from two Brazilian cities (Araçatuba and Fernandópolis) were randomly assigned into 3 groups, according to the dentifrice to be used: 500 ppm F plus 1% TMP (“500TMP”, n = 206), 500 ppm F plus 0.25% CaGP (“500CaGP, n = 201) and 1100 ppm F (‘1100F’, n = 193). Clinical exams (dmfs) were performed at baseline and 18 months after dentifrices started to be used, and the increment in the number of carious lesions (final dmfs – initial dmfs) was calculated. Data were analyzed by multivariate linear regression analysis to verify the influence of city, gender, previous caries experience and type of dentifrice on dmfs increment (p < 0.05).Mean caries increment observed for 500TMP (0.26) was significantly lower when compared with 1100F (0.74), while values found for 500CaGP (0.54) were not significantly different from 1100F. Caries increment was significantly higher in children from Araçatuba and in those with previous caries experience.The results indicate that clinical efficacy of LFDs supplemented with TMP is superior to that observed for a conventional formulation (1100F), while the addition of CaGP leads to similar efficacy when compared to 1100F.Children brushing with 500 ppm F toothpastes containing phosphate salts developed fewer caries lesions when compared with those using a 1100 ppm F dentifrice. The tested toothpastes can be regarded as a safe alternative to conventional formulations for children under 6 years of age, based on risk-benefit considerations.