The effect of supervised brushing on caries inhibition in school age children.

A supervised brushing program was incorporated into a three-year caries clinical trial whose primary objective was to compare the efficacy between two fluoride levels of a dentifrice (1,000 and 1,500 ppm F MFP). For each of the 2,415 children completing the three-year study, the total number of supervised brushing sessions completed was available. Results indicated that children who complied well with the supervised brushing program by participating in at least 70% of the sessions had a significantly lower caries increment in both fluoride levels (p less than .001) than children who did not comply as well. After adjusting for age, sex, and baseline DMFS of the children, as well as the fluoride level received, a multiple regression model showed that supervised brushing further reduced the three year caries increment (p less than .04). The more frequent use of the higher fluoride dentifrice affords the greatest prevention of decay. The conclusion from this study is that compliance with the supervised brushing program resulted in a reduced caries increment regardless of the level of fluoride in the dentifrice.