PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON THE EFFECT ON DENTAL CARIES OF THE USE OF SODIUM FLUORIDE IN A PROPHYLACTIC CLEANING MIXTURE AND IN A MOUTHWASH
B. G. BIBBY 1,
H. A. ZANDER 1,
MARY MCKELLEGET 1, and
BERTHA LABUNSKY 1
1 Tufts College Dental School and Massachusetts Department of Health, Boston, Mass.
A study in which 3 dental prophylaxes using a 1% sodium fluoride-pumice- hydrogen peroxide mixture were given to the teeth on one side of the mouth of 47 children showed an overall reduction in new caries of approximately 43%. A similar study in which 2 fluoride prophylaxes were given to 95 children reduced caries by approximately 25%. It is not believed that the difference in the results is fundamentally the result of the number of treatments given. In both instances caries reduction in the upper teeth was much greater than in the lower teeth. The use, thrice weekly, of an acid (pH 4) mouthwash containing 0.1% sodium fluoride for 1 year did not reduce caries activity in 31 dental students below that of 15 using a control fluoride-free mouthwash, or 39 using no mouthwash.
Submitted on May 15, 1946
