Long-term efficacy of an oral health promotion program in the prevention of early childhood caries.

该项目的目的是测试口腔健康促进计划的长期效果，其目的是降低幼儿龋齿的患病率。大约每6名3岁儿童中就有1名患龋齿，每2名5岁儿童中就有1名患龋齿。这种疾病对儿童生活质量的各个方面都产生了负面影响。龋齿与感染、疼痛和频繁住院有关。拟议的项目是一项随机对照试验(RCT)的后续行动，该试验从招募孕妇开始。他们被随机分为试验组和对照组。试验组母亲分别在入院时、6个月、12个月龄时分别接受3轮预防性口腔健康知识的前瞻性指导、第2轮和第3轮宣传。信息被邮寄到他们的家庭住址。所有儿童在20个月大时都接受了检查。试验组儿童龋齿患病率低于对照组(试验组1、7%，对照组9.6%)。虽然口腔健康信息在20个月时在预防龋齿方面是有效的，但更长期的随访是非常理想的。因此，我们计划对5-6岁儿童的口腔健康进行跟踪调查。预计，试验中75%的母亲将是可接触的，并将继续参与研究。第三组相同年龄的儿童将从南澳大利亚学校牙科服务数据库中抽取，以检查试验中的儿童是否代表所有南澳学校的儿童。所有儿童入学后都将接受牙医或学校牙科治疗师的检查。将在试验组和对照组以及社区儿童中检查和比较龋齿的患病率及其管理。

The aim of the project is to test the long-term efficacy of oral health promotion program, the purpose of which is to lower the prevalence of tooth decay among young children. Tooth decay affects approximately 1 in 6 children by age of 3 years and 1 in 2 children by age of 5 years. The disease negatively influences all aspects of quality of life of child. Tooth decay is associated with infection, pain, and frequent hospitalisation. The proposed project is a follow-up of an randomised controlled trial (RCT), which started with enrolment of pregnant women. They were randomised into the test and control groups. Mothers in test group received 3 round of preventive oral health information in the form of anticipatory guidance, the first round at enrolment, the second and third at 6, 12 months of age of child respectively. The information was mailed to their home address. All children were examined at age of 20 months of age. The children in the test group had lower prevalence of tooth decay compared to children in control group, (test group 1,7%, control group 9.6%). While the oral health information was effective in preventing decay at 20 months, longer-term follow-up is highly desirable. Therefore, we plan to follow-up the oral health of the children at 5 - 6 years old. It is anticipated, that 75% mothers from the trial will be contactable and will continue with their participation in the study. A third comparative group of children at the same age will be drawn from database of the South Australian School Dental Services to check if the children in the trial are representative of all SA school children. All children will be examined by dentists or school dental therapists after they enter school. The prevalence of the tooth decay and its mangement will be examined and compared among children from test and control groups and children from community.