THE COMBINED ANTICARIOGENIC EFFECT OF A SINGLE STANNOUS FLUORIDE SOLUTION AND THE UNSUPERVISED USE OF A STANNOUS FLUORIDE-CONTAINING DENTIFRICE

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Indiana University, Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis, Ind.

A total of 751 children, ages 6 to 16 years, were divided into three groups in order to test the anticariogenic effectiveness of a SnF₂ dentifrice and a combination of topically applied SnF₂ and a SnF₂ dentifrice. The results after 6 and 12 months showed approximately 30 per cent less tooth decay in the group using the SnF₂ dentifrice alone when the DMFT index was used, and approximately 20 per cent less new dental caries when the DMFS index was used. When the combination of topical and SnF₂ dentifrice was used, approximately 60 per cent less new caries was found after 6 and 12 months by using either the DMFS or the DMFT index. It is suggested that, in order to obtain the maximum anticariogenic effect from the topical SnF₂ application or the SnF₂ dentifrice, both be used in conjunction with each other.