Journal of Disability and Oral Health
- Cover Date:
- April 2006
- Print ISSN:
- 1470-8558
- Electronic ISSN:
- 1754-2758
- Vol:
- 7
- Issue:
- 1
A comparison of the effectiveness of chlorhexidine varnish, fluoride varnish and fluoride gel in children with intellectual disability
Objective: To compare the effectiveness of chlorhexidine and fluoride varnishes and fluoride gel within a group of intellectually disabled patients. Design: A randomised controlled trial. Methods: Ninety young people aged between 12–15 years, who had previously received full-mouth rehabilitation under general anaesthesia, participated in this study. Subjects were randomly allocated to one of three groups for treatment with Cervitec®, a chlorhexidine-containing varnish or a fluoride gel or Bifluorid 12®, a fluoride containing varnish. The Cervitec® varnish was re-applied every three months and the fluoride treatments semi-annually. The outcomes were the caries increment (DMFS index), dental plaque, mutans streptococci (MS) and lactobacilli counts by comparison at baseline and after one year. Results: Thirtyseven subjects showed poor compliance with the follow-ups and were excluded from the study. The Cervitec® varnish group showed a statistically significant reduction in MS counts after one year in comparison to the fluoride gel and fluoride varnish groups (p<0.05), but no inhibitory effect was found in the lactobacilli counts in all groups. There were also no statistically significant differences in the pre- and post-treatment plaque scores between the groups. The caries increments were 0.74±1.5, 1.06±2.26, 1.38±2.03 in the Cervitec®, fluoride gel and Bifluorid 12® groups, respectively. The differences between the groups in mean caries increment were not significant. Conclusion: The preventive agents tested showed equal efficiency in one-year caries increments within a group of children with intellectual disabilities. Key words: Chlorhexidine, Streptococcus mutans, lactobacilli, fluoride, intellectually disabled children, caries
- Article Price
- £15.00
- Institution Article Price
- £15.00
- Page Start
- 10
- Page End
- 16
- Authors
- Özant Öncag, Nazan Kocatas Ersin
Articles from this issue
- Title
- Pg. Start
- Pg. End
- A comparison of the effectiveness of chlorhexidine varnish, fluoride varnish and fluoride gel in children with intellectual disability
- 10
- 16
- An approach to the restoration of fractured anterior teeth in adolescents with intellectual impairment
- 25
- 28
- The use of hypnosis and systematic desensitisation in the management of dental phobia: a case report
- 29
- 34
- Mortality after full mouth rehabilitation under general anesthesia for a child with Tetralogy of Fallot: report of a case
- 35
- 42