[Long-term effects of preventive dental care in toddlers].

A study was executed to investigate the relation between the motivation of the mother to engage in preventive dental behavior, the level of her school education, her place of birth and furthermore the use of fluoride tablets by the child in the age period 1 1/2 - 6 years on the one hand and the caries experience at the age of 6 and 15 years and the prevalence of fluorosis at the age of 15 years on the other. The year of birth of the child was taken into account as a possible confounding factor. A significant relation was found between the use of fluoride tablets and the prevalence of fluorosis. The most important predicting factor for the caries experience of the child was the mother's motivation to engage in preventive dental behavior. An effect of fluoride tablets on the caries experience could not be demonstrated.