Jabir E, McGrade C, Quinn G et al. Evaluating the effectiveness of fluoride varnish in preventing caries amongst Long-Term Care Facility Residents. Gerodontology 2022; 39: 250-256.

A potentially effective strategy.

Research on the effectiveness of fluoride interventions has been mostly carried out on children. Whilst regular application of fluoride varnish has been shown to prevent root caries in adults, it is not possible to extrapolate these finding to those residing in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) who have specific characteristics of co-morbidities, polypharmacy, limited self-care abilities, and reduced access to professional mouth care.

Comparing the effectiveness of a twice-yearly application of fluoride varnish to residents of nine LTCFs and oral hygiene instruction to the staff (the intervention group), with the provision of routine oral care but no fluoride application, to residents of nine different matched LTCFs (the control group), this quality improvement project found a significant reduction in the incidence of carious lesions in the intervention group when compared to the control group. Despite the provision of oral health training to the LCTF staff, no reduction in plaque scores was observed.