Relationship between area deprivation and the anticaries benefit of an oral health programme providing free fluoride toothpaste to young children

Abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Dr Trevor Watts

Abstract

A low-fluoride dentifrice gave measurable benefit only in the most deprived groups, but a high-fluoride dentifrice improved health in less deprived groups as well.

Main

Ellwood RP, Davies GM et al. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2004; 32: 159–165

In 9 health districts in the north-west of England, 3,731 children (50% had dropped out) completed a randomized clinical trial from age 1 to 5 years, with two groups receiving dentifrices containing 1,450 or 440 ppm fluoride sent to them by post, and a comparison group who were given no dentifrice. For 3,467 children, electoral wards were identified, so that the Townsend deprivation score (which ranged from −6.42 to 10.97) was known.

On conclusion of the trial, in the least deprived quartile, dmft for the 1,450 ppm dentifrice group was 1.4, for the 440 ppm group, 2.2, and for the comparison group, 1.9; respective scores in the most deprived quartile were 2.7, 2.9 and 3.2. The effect of the high fluoride dentifrice was not related to deprivation. The authors conclude that targeting the most deprived children by the methods of this study would not reduce deprivation-related health inequalities.