AN EVALUATION OF A PRIMARY PREVENTIVE DENTAL PROGRAM IN NONFLUORIDATED AREAS OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

A primary preventive dental programme targeting adolescents living in non-fluoridated areas of Victoria, Australia was evaluated for a three -year period. The programme comprised annual placement or replacement/ repair of fissure sealants combined with a weekly 0.2 per cent sodium fluoride mouthrinse and was evaluated in terms of acceptance by the pr oviders and the community to which it was directed. Acceptance was mea sured using accessibility, availability, continuity, quality of care, role responsibility, provider and consumer satisfaction, and cost-effe ctiveness. In general, the programme was considered to represent an ac ceptable model for future preventive interventions, although there wer e areas of its design that were found to require improvement. In parti cular, deficiencies in the manner in which the fluoride mouthrinsing c omponent was delivered indicate that further investigation would be re quired before a recommendation to adopt its use could be made.