3-YEAR RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF PROFESSIONALLY APPLIED TOPICAL FLUORIDE GEL COMPARING ANNUAL AND BIANNUAL APPLICATIONS WITH WITHOUT PRIOR PROPHYLAXIS

The twice yearly application to children's teeth of acidulated phospha te fluoride (APF) gel in dental trays preceded by a professionally ren dered 'dental prophylaxis' has become the standard and most commonly u sed dental chairside procedure for prevention of dental caries. This s tudy was a randomized, 3-year, community-based clinical trial of profe ssionally applied APF gel involving the use and non-use of a prior den tal prophylaxis and annual and biannual APF applications for children in age groups 6-7 (n = 176) and 10-11 (n = 153) years initially, who a re likely at high risk of future dental caries. The 3-year results of this study show no significant effect on dental caries reduction of ei ther a prior prophylaxis or annual versus biannual APF gel application s. A significant reduction in the frequency of provision of these dent al services, limited to high caries risk patients only, is recommended .