EFFECT OF A 3-YEAR PROFESSIONAL FLOSSING PROGRAM WITH CHLORHEXIDINE GEL ON APPROXIMAL CARIES AND COST OF TREATMENT IN PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN

The aim was to evaluate the effect of chlorhexidine gel treatment on t he incidence of approximal caries in preschool children. One hundred a nd seventeen 4-year-olds, divided into two groups, participated: (1) c hlorhexidine gel group (n = 59), and (2) placebo gel group (n = 58). G roup 1 was treated 4 times a year with a 1% chlorhexdine gel and group 2 with a placebo gel. Approximately 0.7 ml of gel was applied interde ntally by means of a flat dental floss. A control group (group 3), whi ch did not receive any flossing or gel treatment, was also included in the study (n = 116). After 3 years, i.e. when the children were 7 yea rs old, the mean incidence of caries on approximal surfaces (defs), in cluding both enamel and dentin lesions, was 2.59 in the chlorhexidine gel, 4.53 in the placebo gel and 4.20 in the control group (group 1 vs . 2 and group 1 vs. 3: p<0.01). Mean number of approximal fillings at the end of the study, i.e. when the children were 7 years old, was 0.3 3 in the chlorhexidine gel, 1.04 in the placebo gel and 0.80 in the co ntrol group (group 1 vs. 2: p<0.01; group 1 vs. 3: p<0.05). The progre ssion of approximal caries lesions, diagnosed on bitewing radiographs from the age of 5 to 7, was slower in the chlorhexidine than in the pl acebo gel group (the control group was not evaluated in this respect). A cost analysis, based on the total treatment time in minutes, showed a small gain for the flossing program. Thus, the results indicate tha t professional application 4 times a year of chlorhexidine gel in comb ination with dental flossing has a caries-reducing effect on approxima l caries in primary teeth.