art-1-Herath-1-2020

Generated from PDF: /home/opencode/cpanel/stomaeduj_hacked/uploads/art-1-Herath-1-2020.pdf
COMMUNITY DENTISTRY                                                                                                                                            www.stomaeduj.com




EFFECTIVENESS OF SCHOOL-BASED FLUORIDE MOUTH




                                                                                                                                                             Original Articles
RINSING PROGRAM IN SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM
KANDY DISTRICT, SRI LANKA
Chandra Herath1a , Tharanga Nandasena2b , Kaung Myat Thwin3c* , Anushka Abeysundara2d ,
Sampath Ratnayake4e , Hiroshi Ogawa3f , Hideo Miyazaki3,5g , Takeyasu Maeda6h
1
 Department of Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
2
 Department of Basic Science, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
3
 Division of Preventive Dentistry, Department of Oral Health Science, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan
4
 Army Hospital, Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka
5
 Department of Dental Hygiene and Welfare, Meirin Junior College, Niigata, Japan
6
 Faculty of Dentistry, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan

a
  BDS, MD, Professor; e-mail: chk1719@yahoo.com; ORCIDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6570-3343
b
  BDS, PhD, Professor ; e-mail: bgtln@yahoo.com; ORCIDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7712-8761
c
  BDS, PhD, FICD, Assistant Professor; e-mail: kaung@dent.niigata-u.ac.jp; ORCIDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0350-7977
d
  BSc, Senior Technical Officer; e-mail: anushkap12@yahoo.com; ORCIDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0267-6106
e
  BDS, MSc, Doctor; e-mail: sampathratnayake@yahoo.com; ORCIDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8396-7302
f
 DDS, MDSc, PhD, Professor; e-mail: ogahpre@dent.niigata-u.ac.jp; ORCIDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1070-2172
g
  DDS, PhD, Professor; e-mail: hideomiy@dent.niigata-u.ac.jp; ORCIDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4032-9655
h
  DDS, PhD, Professor; e-mail: maedat@dent.niigata-u.ac.jp; ORCIDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5317-7510


ABSTRACT                                                                                https://doi.org/10.25241/stomaeduj.2020.7(1).art.1

Introduction Dental caries is still epidemic and a significant public health problem in developing countries.
No research on a fluoride mouth rinsing program has been conducted in Sri Lanka yet. Therefore, the
purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a supervised school-based 0.2% sodium fluoride
mouth rinsing program among 6 year-old Sri Lanka school children.
Material and Methods This study was conducted on 415 school children from the Yatinuwara educational
zone of the Kandy district, Sri Lanka from January 2011 to January 2014. The children were allocated into two
groups by adjusting their socio-demographic background and the fluoride level in drinking water at school
level; Group 1 received 0.2% sodium fluoride mouth rinses weekly, and Group 2 was the control group. A
clinical oral examination and oral health education were performed at baseline and annual follow-ups.
Results At the baseline, the mean age of school children in the intervention group and the control group
were 6.17 ± 0.41 years and 6.08 ± 0.50 years, respectively. Almost all of the children (>90%) used fluoride
toothpaste in both groups. After the fluoride mouth rinsing program, the intervention group (77.8%) showed
higher caries free proportion than the control group (63.1%), although no statistically significant difference
occurred. The mean DMFT and DMFS indices in the intervention group were significantly lower than those
in the control group.
Conclusion The school-based fluoride mouth rinsing program indicated a significant tendency of preventing
future caries incidence among children with permanent dentition.
KEYWORDS
Fluoride Mouth Rinsing; Dental Caries; 6 Year-Old; Schoolchildren; Sri Lanka.

1. INTRODUCTION                                                                   Sri Lanka is one of developing countries in South
                                                                                  Asia, and the children’s oral health is in poor
Dental caries is still epidemic and a significant public                          condition [2-4]. According to the 2015-16 National
health problem in many developing countries [1].                                  Oral Health Survey, the prevalence of dental caries in

               OPEN ACCESS This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
               Peer-Reviewed Article
    Citation: Herath C, Nandasena T, Thwin KM, Abeysundara A, Ratnayak S, Ogawa H, Miyazaki H, Maeda T. Effectiveness of school-based fluoride mouth
    rinsing program in school children from Kandy District, Sri Lanka. Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1):07-14.
    Received: November 04, 2019; Revised: December 02, 2019; Accepted: January 09, 2020; Published: January 28, 2020
    *Corresponding author: Dr. Kaung Myat Thwin, BDS, PhD, FICD, Assistant Professor, Division of Preventive Dentistry, Department of Oral Health Science,
    Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University; 2-5274, Gakkocho-dori, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8514, Japan;
    Tel: +81-25-227-2858; Fax: +81-25-227-0807;
    e-mail: kaung@dent.niigata-u.ac.jp
    Copyright: © 2020 the Editorial Council for the Stomatology Edu Journal.




Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1): 07-14                                                                          pISSN 2360-2406; eISSN 2502-0285                            7
                     Herath C. et al.
www.stomaeduj.com



                     5 year-old children was 63.1%, and the prevalence of      from January 2011 to January 2014. The six schools
 Original Articles   untreated active caries was 60.7%. Out of 5-year-olds     came from urban, semi-urban and rural areas and
                     who had experienced dental caries, 96.2% of them          were randomly selected based on the probability
                     had active caries. Further more, as early as the age      proportional to size sampling method. Via the
                     of 5-6 years old, some children already had caries        school authorities, an elaborative explanation on the
                     on their newly erupted permanent teeth [5]. It is         background, objectives, methods and significance of
                     considered as a significant public health problem         the study was presented to children aged 6 years
                     in Sri Lankan children. It has become a burden not        and to their parents or guardians gathered in large
                     only to the bearers and their families but also to        forums. Following the explanation, the written
                     the country [6]. Moreover, it has a great impact          consent was obtained from the schools, participating
                     on the health policy makers [7]. This increasing          children and their parents or guardians. The S-FMR
                     burden might be mainly due to the increased rate          program started with a total of 415 schoolchildren
                     of sugar consumption and inadequate exposure to           in the study (Fig. 1). During the 3 years of fluoride
                     fluoride [7-9]. In a region of Sri Lanka, the fluoride    mouth rinsing program, there was no drop out since
                     levels in water bases showed a great variation            none of the participants moved to any other school,
                     from less than 0.05 to 5 ppm [10]. These are very         or quit the school during the period. Although there
                     high altitude areas that are exposed to heavy rain        were a number of additional entries to the schools,
                     throughout the year, and showed very low fluoride         they were not included in the statistical analysis and
                     levels in drinking water, namely 0.05 to 0.001 ppm.       so the final number of children who completed the
                     It is the area where our study sample originated.         study was 415.
                     Only 14.7% of the Sri Lankan population get the
                     desired level of fluoride concentration of around         2.2. Study setting
                     1mg/L through natural drinking water supplies [11].       Basic socio-demographic information (gender,
                     The evidence-based preventive methods such as             age, school category, frequency of tooth brushing,
                     topical fluoride applications, fluoride mouth rinsing,    usage of tooth paste with fluoride, frequency of
                     diet modifications and good oral hygiene practices        intake of sweet food, parents who brush children
                     are widely used for public caries prevention [2,12].      teeth, income of the family, father’s and mother’s
                     Daily use of fluoride toothpaste and school-based         education levels, and knowledge on factors that
                     fluoride mouth rinse programs are recommended             influence tooth decay) of schoolchildren were
                     to control dental caries in children and adolescents,     taken at the baseline. Fluoride concentrations were
                     especially for communities in low fluoridated areas       estimated in the sources of drinking water (deep
                     [13]. According to oral health report of the World        wells, tube wells, steams, and running tap water)
                     Health Organization (2013), a reduction in level of       of each student participating in the study and the
                     caries can be achieved through a joint action of the      mean fluoride level was 0.078 ppm. There were no
                     community, professionals and individuals [14]. The        significant differences in the fluoride level among
                     weekly use of fluoride mouth rinse is practiced as a      the six schools. The participants were instructed
                     group activity at community levels because it is safe     and obliged to use fluoridated tooth paste at the
                     and effective [15]. The effect of fluoride mouth rinses   baseline and the annual follow-ups. Various types
                     on the incidence of dental caries in children has         of fluoridated toothpastes are available in local
                     been extensively investigated, and its effectiveness      market, which is imported brands as well as locally
                     has been demonstrated for 15%-45% in reducing             manufactured brands. The available fluoridated
                     dental caries over a period of 2-5 years [15-18].         toothpastes in Sri Lanka usually contain 850 - 1000
                     The Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous          µg/gF in soluble form. Further more, parents and
                     Medicine, Sri Lanka has started school dental ser-        children were methodically educated on oral health
                     vices since 1953. The school dental therapists of         including frequency of tooth brushing, usage of tooth
                     the primary health care team had the main res-            paste with fluoride, frequency of intake of sweet
                     ponsibility to provide preventive oriented oral           food, parents’ involvement during tooth brushing,
                     health services for schoolchildren aged 3-13 years        the knowledge of factors that influence tooth decay,
                     old [19]. However, no research on fluoride mouth          information about nutrition intake and eating habits
                     rinsing program has been conducted in Sri Lanka           at the baseline of the study and then annually in order
                     yet. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to          to minimize the different confounding factors and
                     evaluate the effectiveness of the School-based            adjust the socio-demographic factors in the sample.
                     Fluoride Mouth Rinsing (S-FMR) program among              The children of the six schools were divided into
                     6 year old Sri Lankan schoolchildren.                     two groups by adjusting their socio-demographic
                                                                               background and fluoride level in drinking water at
                     2. MATERIALS AND METHODS                                  school level (which applied a comparison design)::
                                                                               an intervention group (FMR) and a control group.
                     2.1. Study population
                     This study was carried out in the Yatinuwara              2.3. Clinical oral examination
                     educational zone of the Kandy district, Sri Lanka         All the clinical oral examinations were performed by



      8              Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1): 07-14                                            pISSN 2360-2406; eISSN 2502-0285
Fluoride mouth rinsing program in Sri Lanka
                                                                                                                                 www.stomaeduj.com




                                                                                                                               Original Articles
                                                                             Figure 1. Flow chart of the study design.
                                                                            n: number of participants, NaF: Sodium Fluoride,
                                                                            S-FMR: School-based Fluoride Mouth Rinse
                                                                            program.



two trained examiners. The calibration of the two         A teacher was allocated to distribute fluoride
dentists whom trained by a public health expert           solution to each class in each school. The class
using gold standard. Linear weighted Kappa values         teacher distributed the plastic cups containing 10
for intra-examiner and inter-examiner variability         ml of fluoride solution to participating children
were 0.85 and 0.80, respectively. A clinical oral         according to the schedule. Children rinsed for a
examination was conducted to assess dentition             minute according to the teacher’s instructions.
status at the baseline and annual follow-ups              The class teachers directly supervised the mouth
based on WHO criteria for dental caries [20]. The         rinsing program and maintained the records for
schoolchildren were examined using plane mouth            three years. The final assessment of caries risk was
mirrors and metallic periodontal probes under good        done to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in
day light to record Decayed (D), Missing (M) and          January 2014. The control group was also intervened
Filled (F) teeth. The findings were recorded using        as ‘placebo’ and so they performed regular mouth
the DMFT index and DMFS index. If at the point the        rinse activity with drinking water. Furthermore, they
examiners noted the total of ‘zero’ DMFT/DMFS in          were repeatedly and annually educated on oral
clinical oral examination, it defined as “caries free”.   health including the frequency of tooth brushing,
                                                          usage of tooth paste with fluoride, frequency of
2.4. Fluoride Mouth Rinsing                               intake of sweet food, parents’ involvement during
0.2% sodium fluoride (NaF) 900 ppmF (Wako                 tooth brushing knowledge on factors that influence
Product Number 196-01975, USA) was used for the           tooth decay, information about nutrition intake and
intervention in this study. The children were trained     eating habits.
for mouth rinsing using normal water for three
months to avoid the swallowing of fluoride solution.      2.5. Statistical analysis
After obtaining the standard practice without             The expected outcome of the study was that the
swallowing and leaving solutions in cups, the             mean DMFT and DMFS in the intervention group
prepared 0.2% NaF solutions were provided weekly          would be at a lower value than the control group
to the schools by investigators.                          after the weekly exposure to fluoride mouth rinsing.


Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1): 07-14                                           pISSN 2360-2406; eISSN 2502-0285                             9
                     Herath C. et al.
www.stomaeduj.com


 Original Articles    Table 1. Socio-demographic background at baseline between two groups.

                                                                                                          FMR, n=198                            Control, n=217
                                                                                                             n (%)                                   n (%)

                      Gender
                                                                                                        101 (51.0)                               111 (51.2)
                        Male
                                                                                                         97 (49.0)                               106 (48.8)
                        Female

                      Location
                                                                                                         70 (35.4)                                83 (38.3)
                        Urban
                                                                                                        100 (50.5)                               109 (50.2)
                        Sub-urban
                                                                                                         28 (14.1)                                25 (11.5)
                        Rural

                      Father’s education level
                                                                                                         28 (14.1)                                45 (20.8)
                        University level
                                                                                                        125 (63.2)                               122 (56.2)
                        High school level
                                                                                                         45 (22.7)                                50 (23.0)
                        Below high school level

                      Mother’s education level
                                                                                                         29 (14.6)                                40 (18.4)
                       University level
                                                                                                        134 (67.7)                               148 (68.2)
                       High school level
                                                                                                         35 (17.7)                                29 (13.4)
                       Below high school level

                      Family’s income
                                                                                                         23 (11.3)                                29 (13.4)
                        High (> Rs. 20000)
                                                                                                         72 (36.9)                                59 (29.2)
                        Middle (Rs. 10000 – 20000)
                                                                                                        103 (51.8)                               129 (57.4)
                        Low (< Rs. 10000)

                      Frequency of tooth brushing
                                                                                                         27 (13.6)                                34 (15.7)
                        Once a day
                                                                                                        151 (76.3)                               155 (71.4)
                        Twice a day
                                                                                                         20 (10.1)                                28 (12.9)
                        Three times and above a day

                      Use of fluoride toothpaste
                                                                                                        185 (93.4)                               201 (92.6)
                        Yes
                                                                                                          3 (1.5)                                  5 (2.3)
                        No
                                                                                                         10 (5.1)                                 11 (5.1)
                        Don’t know
                     FMR: Fluoride Mouth Rinse, n: number of participants, Family income: average monthly income of the Kandy district, 1 US $ = Rs. 100, by X2 test (p<0.05)


                     Therefore, the variables of study were exposure and                           from the Zonal Education Authority of Kandy District,
                     no exposure of six year-old schoolchildren to 0.2%                            Central Province of Sri Lanka.
                     fluoride mouth rinse for three years and DMFT level
                     and DMFS level in permanent dentition.                                        3. RESULTS
                     A statistical analysis was carried out using the
                     statistical software SPSS 23.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL,                            Four hundred and sixteen schoolchildren at age 6
                     USA). Chi-square, independent t-test and ANOVA                                were initially recruited for the study. However, one
                     tests were performed between the mean differences                             child was excluded from the study due to the absence
                     between the intervention group and the control                                of the consent form. Therefore, 415 schoolchildren
                     group at the baseline and the annual follow-ups.                              were finally included in the study. Out of them, 198
                     The level of statistical significance for all tests was set                   children (male: 101, female: 97) were recruited for
                     at p<0.05.                                                                    the intervention group and 217 children (male: 111,
                                                                                                   female: 106) for the control group. As shown in Figure
                     2.6. Ethical approval                                                         1, their socio-demographic background and fluoride
                     The study design was approved by the Research                                 level in drinking water were adjusted in both groups.
                     Committee and Ethical Review committee of the                                 Then, the intervention group was introduced to 0.2%
                     Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya,                         NaF mouth rinse under the supervision of school
                     Sri Lanka (Ethical clearance No. FDS-RERC/2009/13/                            teachers for consecutive three years. There were no
                     Herath2). The study permission was also obtained                              dropouts from the study during the study. Although



    10               Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1): 07-14                                                                      pISSN 2360-2406; eISSN 2502-0285
Fluoride mouth rinsing program in Sri Lanka
                                                                                                                                    www.stomaeduj.com



                                                                       DMFS level in the FMR and control groups were 0.04




                                                                                                                                  Original Articles
 Table 2. Percentage of caries free school children in the FMR and
control groups.                                                        ± 0.31 and 0.13 ± 0.54, respectively. There were no
                                                                       significant differences in mean DMFT and DMFS
                      FMR, n=198             Control, n=217            between the two groups at the baseline and 1st visit.
     Visits
                        n (%)                    n (%)                 The mean number of DMFT and DMFS in the FMR
                                                                       group was significantly lower than that in the control
   Baseline             178 (89.9)               205 (94.5)
                                                                       group at the 2nd visit and 3rd visit.
                                                                       As within groups, the mean DMFT and DMFS were
    1th visit           165 (83.3)               194 (89.4)            significantly increased from baseline to the 3rd visit
                                                                       in the FMR group. In the control group, there was
    2nd visit           149 (75.3)               143 (65.9)            no significant difference from baseline to the 1st visit
                                                                       whereas there were significant differences during
    3rd visit           154 (77.8)               137 (63.1)            the 2nd and 3rd visits.
FMR: Fluoride Mouth Rinse, n: number of participants, by independent
t-test (p<0.05)                                                        4. DISCUSSION

there was a number of additional lateral entries to                    Dental caries caused by multi-etiological factors is
the S-FMR program, they were not included into                         largely preventable with evidence-based preventive
the study. During the three years of the program, a                    methods. However, the prevalence of dental caries
clinical oral examination and oral health education                    among children has risen in developing countries in
(basic knowledge about dental diseases and oral                        recent years because there are very frail preventive
hygiene care) were performed in both groups                            care projects compared with developed countries.
annually. The socio-demographic background of the                      Beside the increased burden of dental caries in Sri
study population at the baseline between the two                       Lanka, the evidence-based fluoride mouth rinsing
groups is summarized in Table 1.                                       program in school has not been implemented
At the baseline, the mean ages of schoolchildren                       yet. This is the first intervention study to evaluate
in the FMR group and the control group were 6.17                       the anti-caries effect of school based fluoride
± 0.41 years and 6.08 ± 0.50 years, respectively.                      mouth rinsing (S-FMR) program among 6 years old
There were no significant differences in mean age,                     Sri Lankan schoolchildren. The present study
proportions of male and female, and other socio-                       included 6 year-old 198 schoolchildren in the S-FMR
demographic data between the two groups. Over                          program and 217 children who did not receive any
75% of students in both groups show that their                         fluoride application.
parents have above high school level education;                        Table 2 included the timely caries-free status of
77.3% (father) and 72.3% (mother) in the FMR group                     permanent dentition in schoolchildren of both
and 77.0% (father) and 86.6% (mother) in the control                   groups. The FMR group showed less reduction of
group. However, the family income for the majority                     the caries-free proportion than the control group,
of the students shows low level in both groups.                        although there were no statistical differences
All schoolchildren brushed their teeth at least once a                 between the two groups during the program. A
day. Yet, the frequency of tooth brushing twice a day                  higher proportion (77.8%) of the children in the FMR
was 76.3% in the FMR group and 71.4% in the control                    group remained caries-free at the end of the study
group, which is the standard and recommended                           compared to the control group (63.1%). This implies
practice. Almost all schoolchildren (>90%) used                        that the caries level in the FMR group was 22.2% and
fluoride toothpaste in both groups. The results of                     36.9% in the control group. Furthermore, it is less
the percentage of caries-free in the FMR and control                   than the reported prevalence of dental caries for 12
groups for consecutive four visits are shown in Table                  year-old Sri Lankan population which is 30.4% and
2. The percentage of caries-free schoolchildren was                    the Kandy district population which is 35% [5].
calculated with permanent dentitions; if DMFT is                       Even though the present study did not carry out
equal to zero, this child was considered as a caries-                  the computation of percentage reduction of dental
free. No significant differences were observed in                      caries due to S-FMR program, when compared with
proportion of caries-free in both groups during the                    the results of a systematic review [22], it showed a
program. The caries-free level in the FMR group,                       comparable level of caries reduction which would
which was less comparative to the control at the                       be observed in permanent dentition ranging from
baseline and 1st visit, was higher than the control                    15% to 67%. When compared to the study carried
group since the 2nd visit. When compared after the                     out in Sarawak which was 24.2% [11], the caries-
FMR program, the intervention group (77.8%) shows                      free percentage was very high in the present study
higher percentage of caries-free than the control                      as 77.8%. At the baseline, the mean DMFT and
(63.1%). Table 3 shows the comparison of the FMR                       DMFS values in both groups were not statistically
and the control groups based on DMFT and DMFS.                         significant due to adjusting nearly equal recruitment
At the baseline, the DMFT index in FMR and control                     of schoolchildren into the study from urban, semi-
groups were 0.03 ± 0.22 and 0.11 ± 0.47, where the                     urban and rural areas. Moreover, they all were



Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1): 07-14                                                         pISSN 2360-2406; eISSN 2502-0285                11
                     Herath C. et al.
www.stomaeduj.com


 Original Articles   Table 3. Mean number of DMFT and DMFS in two groups.

                                                      DMFT (SD)                                                        DMFS (SD)
                                                                                         p-value                                                           p-value
                                               FMR                  Control                                     FMR                  Control

                       Baseline           0.03 (0.22)             0.11 (0.47)             0.965             0.04 (0.31)            0.13 (0.54)              0.992
                        1st Visit         0.32 (0.74)*            0.19 (0.62)             0.067             0.40 (0.96)*           0.26 (0.92)              0.191
                        2nd Visit         0.44 (0.83)*            0.76 (1.01)*            0.03              0.54 (1.06)*           1.06 (1.48)*              0.04
                        3rd Visit         0.64 (0.89)*            0.90 (1.02)*            0.07              0.85 (1.25)*           1.32 (1.61)*              0.07

                     FMR: Fluoride Mouth Rinse, n: number of participants, DMFT: decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth, DMFS: decayed, missing, and filled permanent
                     tooth surfaces, SD: Standard Deviation.
                     Mean values within each row are analyzed by using ANOVA test (p<0.05), NS: statistically not significant.
                     Mean values within each column are analyzed by using one way repeated ANOVA test (p<0.05), (*): statistically significant.

                     from geographically comparable background,                                  continue up to the age of 12 years in order for
                     which reported to have very low fluoride level                              more children to remain caries-free through their
                     in the natural drinking water (0.078 ppmF) [11].                            school years [25]. The measurements for FMR uses
                     The previous studies also recommended that school                           among preschoolchildren were performed in
                     based fluoride mouth rinsing should be implemented                          Japan, and reported FMR could be performed by
                     in areas of fluoride-deficient communities [10,21].                         preschoolchildren safely and efficiently [22]. This
                     Furthermore, a study on a school based fluoride                             suggests that the S-FMR program should start at a
                     mouth rinsing program in Japan concluded that                               younger age, such as the preschool period to further
                     community-oriented health measure should be                                 enhance the impact of the caries-preventive effects.
                     contributed to caries prevention of the permanent                           In this study, basic knowledge of oral hygiene care
                     teeth in areas where water fluoridation is not                              such as the use of fluoridated toothpaste with
                     available [22]. According to the National Oral Health                       correct tooth brushing was delivered via the oral
                     Survey in 2015-16 [5], the FMR group in this study                          health education in both groups during the follow-
                     even though showed a similar DMFT level with                                up visits. Low levels of oral health knowledge will
                     12-year-old Sri Lankan population which was 0.6                             hinder the sound understanding of oral health care,
                     (1.6) it rather less than the Kandy district population                     and result in a poor oral health outcome [27].
                     (0.8). Furthermore, when compared to the study                              The previous review studies reported that daily
                     carried out in Sarawak [10], the DMFT value at the                          use of fluoridated toothpaste had a significant
                     end of the program was significantly less. The mean                         caries-preventive effect in children [12,28,29].
                     DMFT and DMFS were significantly decreased in the                           The oral health situation would be enhanced by
                     FMR group than in the control group during the 2nd                          a combination of the S-FMR program together
                     and 3rd visits, respectively.                                               with provision of oral health education for further
                     This finding supported the previous studies which                           impressive results.
                     were performed in several communities [10,24,25].                           The limitation of this study includes the assignment
                     In accordance with our findings, the present study                          of subjects to test and control groups which was
                     demonstrated that weekly use of 0.2% NaF (900                               known to the examiners (not performed to single or
                     ppm F) has a significant caries-preventive effect                           double blind), which is common to studies. Further,
                     in children. Therefore, the S-FMR programs are                              the diagnostic criteria applied are based on those
                     regarded as a highly effective caries-preventive                            stated by WHO (1997), in which the initial lesions
                     strategy. A previous systematic review concluded                            (white sports) are not considered. In consequence,
                     that supervised regular use of fluoride mouth rinse                         there may be under-registration. Nevertheless,
                     in daily or weekly or fortnightly basis with 0.05%                          this study could provide useful information about
                     NaF (230 ppm F) or 0.2% NaF (900 ppm F) in children                         school-based weekly fluoride mouth rinsing pro-
                     and adolescents could achieve a satisfactory caries                         grams in fluoride-deficient areas.
                     reduction in tooth surfaces [25]. On the other hand,                        The positive benefit of weekly sodium fluoride
                     Jagan et al reported that the effectiveness of fluoride                     mouth rinses on caries reduction would be a
                     mouth rinse with low concentration (0.05% NaF) is                           major population-based strategy to improve
                     not significant on caries reduction [26].                                   the oral health situation in Sri Lankan children.
                     Furthermore, its effectiveness is said to be more                           In addition, to get the maximum impact on
                     significant in caries prevention with the early                             caries    prevention,     the    school-based     flu-
                     introduction of fluoride mouth rinses to children                           oride mouth rinsing program could be combined
                     [22]. In this study, children aged 6 years participated                     with other additional preventive activities including
                     in the S-FMR program, as they are the age group                             reinforced use of fluoride toothpaste and supervised
                     that start to attend primary schools. The previous                          tooth brushing through oral health education
                     studies concluded that fluoride mouth rinsing                               to parents, guardians, school teachers as well as
                     programs should start at a younger age, and                                 schoolchildren to further caries reduction.



    12               Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1): 07-14                                                                    pISSN 2360-2406; eISSN 2502-0285
Fluoride mouth rinsing program in Sri Lanka
                                                                                                                                                       www.stomaeduj.com



5. CONCLUSION                                                             KT: Data analysis, manuscript writing, critical review of manuscript;




                                                                                                                                                     Original Articles
                                                                          AA: Mouth wash preparation, mouthwash distribution, data
                                                                          recording, data entry; SR: Clinical examination, DMFT calculation,
Based on the findings of this study, we have found                        data recording, data entry; HO: Data analysis, manuscript writing,
evidence that weekly 0.2% NaF mouth rinse had a                           critical review of manuscript; HM: Concept, protocol, proposal
significant tendency of preventing future caries                          writing, data analysis, critical review of manuscript; TM: Concept,
incidence among children in permanent dentition.                          protocol, critical review of manuscript.

                                                                          ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
                                                                          This study was supported by the Niigata University and the
The authors declare no conflict of interest.                              University of Peradeniya Cooperation Agency Partnership
                                                                          Program and the Sri Lanka Dental Association – under the 2010
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS                                                      grant . The authors thank all participating schoolchildren, parents
                                                                          or guardians, school authorities and teachers who provided their
CH: Proposal writing, program organizing, clinical examination,           fullest cooperation during the program.
DMFT calculation, manuscript writing; TN: Concept, data gathering
and recording DMFT calculation, data entry, manuscript writing;




REFERENCES
1. Kaung MT, Zaitsu T, Uneo M, Kawaguchi Y. Early childhood caries        13. Rugg-Gunn A, Bánóczy J. Fluoride toothpastes and fluoride
and related risk factors among Myanmar preschool children. Int J          mouthrinses for home use. Acta Med Acad. 2013;42(2):168-178.
Clin Prev Dent. 2016;12(4):229-236.                                       Review.
[CrossRef ] Google Scholar                                                [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
2. Kumarihamy SLM, Subasinghe LD, Jayasekara P, et al. The                14. Petersen PE, Ogawa H. Prevention of dental caries through
prevalence of early childhood caries in 1–2 yrs olds in a semi-           the use of fluoride--the WHO approach. Community Dent Health.
urban area of Sri Lanka. BMC Res Notes. 2011;4:336.                       2016;33(2):66-68.
[Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus              [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
3. Perera PJ, Abeyweera NT, Fernando MP, et al. Prevalence of             15. Twetman S, Keller MK. Fluoride rinses, gels and foams: an
dental caries among a cohort of preschool children living in              update of controlled clinical trials. Caries Res. 2016;50 Suppl 1:38-44.
Gampaha district Sri Lanka : a descriptive cross sectional study.         [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
BMC Oral Health. 2012;12:49.                                              16. Petersen PE, Phantumvanit P. Perspectives in the effective use
[Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus              of fluoride in Asia. J Dent Res. 2012;91(2):119-121.
4. World Health Organization. 2008–2013 Action plans for the              [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
global strategy for the prevention and control of non-communicable        17. Matsuyama Y, Aida J, Taura K, et al. School-based fluoride
diseases. World Health Assembly Document A53/14. Geneva, CH:              mouth-rinse program dissemination associated with decreasing
World Health Organization; 2009.                                          dental caries inequalities between Japanese prefectures: an
https://www.who.int/nmh/publications/9789241597418/en/                    ecological study. J Epidemiol. 2016 5;26(11):563-571.
5. Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, Sri             [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
Lanka. National Oral Health Survey (2015-2016)., Colombo, Sri             18. Shahid M. Regular supervised fluoride mouthrinse use by
Lanka: Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine;             children and adolescents associated with caries reduction. Evid
2018. Dental caries: 33-38.                                               Based Dent. 2017;18(1):11-12.
http://www.health.gov.lk/moh_final/english/public/elfinder/               [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
files/publications/2019/NOHS2015-2016.pdf                                 19. Ranasinghe N, Kruger E, Tennant M. Spatial distribution of ground
6. Kassebaum NJ, Smith AGC, Bernabé E, et al. Global, regional,           water fluoride levels and population at risk for dental caries and
and national prevalence, incidence, and disability-adjusted life          dental fluorosis in Sri Lanka. Int Dent J. 2019; 69(4):295-302.
years for oral conditions for 195 countries, 1990-2015: a systematic      [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
analysis for the global burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors.   20. World Health Organization. Oral health surveys: basics methods,
J Dent Res. 2017;96(4):380-387.                                           4th edition. Geneva, CH: World Health Organization; 1997.
[Full text links] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus                          https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/41905
7. Jürgensen N, Petersen PE. Oral health and the impact of socio-b        21. Takeuchi R, Kawamura K, Kawamura S, et al. Effect of school-based
havioral factors in a cross sectional survey of 12-year old school        fluoride mouth-rinsing on dental caries incidence among schoolchildren
children in Laos. BMC Oral Health. 2009;9:29.                             in the Kingdom of Tonga. J Oral Sci. 2012;54(4):343-347.
[CrossRef ] Google Scholar Scopus                                          [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar
8. Perera I, Ekanayake L. Relationship between dietary patterns           22. Komiyama K, Kimoto K, Taura K, et al. National survey on
and dental caries in Sri Lankan adolescents. Oral Health Prev Dent.       school-based fluoride mouth-rinsing programme in Japan:
2010; 8(2):165-72.                                                        regional spread conditions from preschool to junior high school
[Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus              in 2010. Int Dent J. 2014;64(3):127-137.
9. Department of Census and Statistics, Ministry of Finance and           [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
Planning, Sri Lanka. Household Income and Expenditure Survey -            23. Levin KA, Jones CM, Wight C, et al. Fluoride rinsing and
2006/07. Final Report. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Department of Census           dental health inequalities in 11-year-old children: an evaluation
and Statistics; 2008.                                                     of a supervised school-based fluoride rinsing programme in
http://www.statistics.gov.lk/HIES/HIES2006_07Website/                     Edinburgh. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2009;37(1):19-26.
Publications/HIES200607Final%20ReportWeb%20.pdf                           [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
10. Chen CJ, Ling KS, Esa R, et al. A school-based fluoride mouth         24. Nakamura A, Sakuma S, Yoshihara A, et al. Long-term follow-
rinsing programme in Sarawak: a 3-year field study. Community             up of the effects of a school-based caries preventive programme
Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2010;38(4):310-314.                                  involving fluoride mouth rinse and targeted fissure sealant:
[Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus              evaluation at 20 years old. Int Dent J. 2009;59(4):215-221.
11. Ranasinghe N, Kruger E, Chandrajith R, et al. The heterogeneous       [Full text links] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
nature of water well fluoride levels in Sri Lanka: an opportunity         25. Marinho VC, Chong LY, Worthington HV, Walsh T. Fluoride
to mitigate the dental fluorosis. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol.          mouthrinses for preventing dental caries in children and
2019;47(3):236-242.                                                       adolescents. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;7(7):CD002284.
[Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus              [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus
12. Peterson PE. Prevention of dental caries through the effective        26. Jagan P, Fareed N, Battur H, et al. Effectiveness of sodium
use of fluoride – the public health approach. Stoma Edu J.                fluoride mouth rinses on the prevention of dental caries: A
2016;3(3-4):130-140.                                                      systematic review. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent. 2015; 13(2):
[CrossRef ] Google Scholar                                                110-115. doi: 10.4103/2319-5932.159042
                                                                          Google Scholar Scopus



Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1): 07-14                                                                 pISSN 2360-2406; eISSN 2502-0285                          13
                     Herath C. et al.
www.stomaeduj.com



                     27. Thwin KM, Zaitsu T, Ueno M, Kawaguchi Y. Effects of oral       29. Bansal A, Ingle NA, Kaur N, et al. Recent advancements in
 Original Articles   health education in Myanmar preschool children and guardians.      fluoride: a systematic review. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent.
                     J Investig Clin Dent. 2018;9(3):e12346.                            2015;5(5):341-346.
                     [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus       [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar
                     28. Miller FY, Campus G, Giuliana G, et al. Topical fluoride for
                     preventing dental caries in children and adolescents. Curr Pharm
                     Des. 2012;18(34):5532–5541.
                     [Full text links] [CrossRef ] [PubMed] Google Scholar Scopus




                                                                                                          Chandra HERATH
                                                                                 BDS, MS (Rest), FDS (Paed), RCS (Eng), Professor
                                                                                          Department of Community Dentistry
                                                                                                      Faculty of Dental Sciences
                                                                                                        University of Peradeniya
                                                                                                           Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

                     CV
                     Chandra Herath, is a Professor in Paedodontics. She joined the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
                     in 1997 and obtained her Fellowship in Paediatric Dentistry from the Royal College of Surgeons, England in 2003. She has
                     published over 15 research papers in local and international journals. She is the President elect of the Association of Specialists
                     in Restorative Dentistry, Sri Lanka and the Joint Secretary of the South Asian Academy of Paediatric Dentistry. Her research
                     interests are related to early childhood caries, dental trauma, developmental anomalies of teeth and children with special health
                     care needs. She has immensely contributed to upgrading Paediatric Dentistry in Sri Lanka by developing undergraduate and
                     postgraduate curricula, conducting workshops and delivering lectures for health care professionals and the general public.

                     Questions
                     1. Which of the following method is more cost-effective to the developing country to
                     carry out the school-based study to prevent dental caries?
                     qa. Water fluoridation method;
                     qb. Use of fluoride mouth rinses;
                     qc. Use of fluoride toothpastes;
                     qd. Milk fluoridation method.

                     2. What is the effect of fluoride on teeth?
                     qa. Demineralize the enamel;
                     qb. Discolor the enamel;
                     qc. Remineralize the enamel;
                     qd. No effect on enamel.

                     3. What is the optimal level of fluoride in the fluoride mouth rinses to be used once a
                     week?
                     qa. 100-300 ppm;
                     qb. 300-500 ppm;
                     qc. 800-1000 ppm;
                     qd. > 1500 ppm.

                     4. What is not an advantage of fluoride mouth rinsing program in school?
                     qa. Cost effective;
                     qb. Time consuming;
                     qc. Can practice at community level;
                     qd. Less attention by participants.




    14               Stoma Edu J. 2020;7(1): 07-14                                                        pISSN 2360-2406; eISSN 2502-0285