April 10, 2004

By: Walker Bentley
Website: http://www.teeth-whitening-smiles.com

Prevent Tooth Decay – New Guidance To Children Issued

New guidance was launched today which it is anticipated will enable dentists throughout Scotland to identify, and treat, dental caries (tooth decay) in children at an earlier stage and, in some cases, reverse this decay before it takes hold.

Whilst oral and dental health have improved tremendously over the last century the prevalence of dental caries in children remains a significant clinical problem and improvements have not been made uniformally across the Scottish population. Latest population statistics show that the prevalence of dental caries is now markedly skewed with 9% of 5 year olds and 6% of 14 year olds accounting for 50% of the untreated decayed surfaces identified. This has been caused by a variety of reasons including poor diet, poor dental hygiene, limited availability of fluoride and socio-economic factors.

In order to improve this situation throughout Scotland SIGN has produced a national clinical guideline which gives clear, and comprehensive, advice to dentists and other health care professionals on the targeted prevention of dental caries in children in the 6-16 age group high caries risk who attend for dental care. The guideline makes a number of key recommendations focusing on behaviour modification, dental health education and on tooth protection.

Included in the recommendations are the increased use of dental sealants to prevent further tooth decay , and new practical advice based upon best evidence - the most obvious example being that children should brush their teeth twice a day using a toothpaste containing fluoride, but that they should not rinse their mouth out with water after having spat the toothpaste out. It is anticipated that this one simple piece of new advice Spit, don't rinse could have a considerable impact upon the level of tooth decay in children in Scotland.

Prof Nigel Pitts, Chairman of the SIGN Guideline Development Group, and Director, Dental Health Services Research Unit, Dundee Dental Hospital and School, said, We have systematically examined the published evidence on dental caries and have made a number of recommendations which we believe will help to significantly reduce the incidence of dental caries in this age group throughout Scotland.

As it is not generally realised, by the public, that tooth decay can actually be reversed if caught early enough, it is extremely important that we can be in a position to tease out and recognise a child at high risk of developing caries before dental disaster sets in.

This advice, and our recommendations can, however, only work if parents work together with us in educating children of the need to practice simple procedures which will greatly reduce their chances of developing serious tooth decay and also of the need to continue to visit a dentist.

Author Notes:

Walker Bentley contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.teeth-whitening-smiles.com.  Everything you need to know to get a whiter, brighter smile!