Five years of community preventive dentistry and health education in the County of Sutherland, Scotland

Abstract

Examination of 11 yr old Scots children who participated in a 5 yr fortnightly dental health education and preventive dentistry program showed that, compared with a similar age-matched group, the regimen produced mean DMF [decayed, missing and filled] and DMFS [decayed, missing and filled surfaces] reductions of 48.6% and 42.1%, respectively. In addition, the plaque and gingival indices differed significantly and 22.5% of test children were caries-free compared with only 7.6% of controls.