Fluoride Varnish Blocks Caries Development in Children

Quarterly application of a casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) fluoride varnish reduces the development of caries in young children, according to research presented on July 9 at the European Organisation for Caries Research (ORCA) annual meeting in Zagreb, Croatia.

Dr. Jekaterina Gudkina (Rīga Stradiņš University in Riga, Latvia) presented results from a three-year study on reducing tooth decay in 6- and 12-year-old children. In previous work, she and her team found that tooth decay in this population group was high due to a sugar-heavy diet and a lack of fluoride in the water system.

For this work, the researchers investigated whether the use of MI Varnish (GC Corp.) could slow rates of tooth decay over a three-year period. Two test groups of children in both age cohorts received the varnish every three months, while two control groups received no varnish.

Over the period of the study, the 6-year-old children who received the CPP-ACP varnish saw a reduction in tooth decay rate of 10.8%. Additionally, the 12-year-old children's tooth decay rate decreased by 8.6%.

'MI Varnish is one tool that will help to control tooth decay, but one also needs to access regular dental care and use devices that detect, measure, and monitor changes in tooth structure over time,' said fellow researcher Dr. Bennett Amaechi of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in a statement released by the ORCA.

'MI Varnish is one tool that will help to control tooth decay, but one also needs to access regular dental care and use devices that detect, measure, and monitor changes in tooth structure over time. These devices will then help to monitor the success of a preventive program,' added Dr. Stephen Abrams of Cliffcrest Dental Office in Ontario.