The objective of this paper was to assess the effects of school-based fluoride mouthrinsing (S-FMR: weekly using 0.2% NaF solution) in two groups of school children with different periods of exposure to S-FMR in elementary school. Subjects were the S-FMR group consisted of 599 children, participated for six years. The control group consisted of 282 children, participated for less than one year in the sixth year of elementary school. From the results of the present survey, the caries reduction rate of S-FMR in the permanent teeth was 36.6% for DMFT and 42.8% for DMFS, and person rates with DMF, DMFT, DMFS, and CO (questionable caries under observation) were inhibited in both boys and girls. Girls in the control group showed clearly higher values for all parameters of dental caries because of earlier teeth eruption; however, no gender differences were observed in the S-FMR group. As caries prevalence in the first molars accounted for about 85% regardless of participation to S-FMR, and first molar caries were more common in the mandible than in the maxilla, consideration should be given to preventive measures against pit-and-fissure-caries in addition to S-FMR. 1. Introduction In Japan, where methods for systemic fluoride application such as water fluoridation have not been performed, school-based fluoride mouthrinsing started in the 1970s and many successful results have been reported [1–6]. Although fluoride mouthrinsing is one of topical fluoride application, it has many advantages: it can be performed at one time in groups; it has reliable preventive effects; it is safe; it is simple to apply; it has excellent cost benefits; it allows for continuous group application [7–14]. Therefore, as fluoride mouthrinsing is of great importance to public health, it should be provided via group application in Japan [1, 2, 15–17]. In Japan, school-based fluoride mouthrinsing (S-FMR) started in one prefecture in 1970 and had expanded to all 47 prefectures by 2005 [3]. According to latest nationwide survey performed by the Nonprofit Japanese Conference on the Promotion of the Use of Fluoride in Caries Prevention (NPO-JPUF), the 8020 Promotion Foundation, and the WHO Collaborating Center for Translation of Oral Health Science (WHOCC Niigata), S-FMR is performed in 7,479 schools by 777,596 children nationwide, as of the end of March 2010, which corresponds to about 6% of 4- to 14-year-old children in Japan [17]. The number of persons undergoing fluoride mouthrinsing worldwide in 2000, including both S-FMR and home application, was estimated to be 100 million [18]. The
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