Situation Regarding the Use of Fluoride Varnish by Dental Personnel in Regional Public Dental Services
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Date
2010-03-21
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Journal of the Dental Association of Thailand
Abstract
The objective of this descriptive survey was to determine the situation regarding the use of fluoride varnish by dental personnel in regional level, types of fluoride varnish, usage problems, and suggestions and opinions needed to promote effective use of fluoride varnish in the future. The survey was conducted between July-September 2006. Questionnaires were mailed to 900 dental personnel in community hospitals, general hospitals, regional hospitals, Somdejprayupraraj hospitals, and provincial health offices of the Ministry of Public Health all over Thailand. Five hundred and sixteen dental personnel returned the questionaires giving a response rate of 57.3%. The majority (86.8%) of the respondents worked in community hospitals. Seventy-nine percent of them were dentists and 20.3% were dental nurses. Sixty-two percent of the respondents have used fluoride varnish. Nowadays, fluoride varnish is used in 51.5% of public dental services. It was reported to use for prevention of tooth sensitivity (36%), for caries prevention in well baby clinic (28.3%), in child development centers (18%) and home visit (5.4%). The most used fluoride varnishes were Duraphat (75%), Bifluorid 12 (16.7%) and Fluor Protector (5.0%) respectively. The reasons that public dental services did not use fluoride varnish in preventive work included no action plan, no budget, or provision. The most common problems for dental personnel who had been using fluoride varnish were lack of cooperation of the children, saliva contamination in posterior teeth during application, uncontrollable food consumption after application, bad taste, and unconcerned parents. It was found that 62.8% of public health personnel trained by dental personnel with experience in using the varnish could apply fluoride varnish in well baby clinic in community hospitals. Most of the dental personnel (78.6%) agreed with using fluoride varnish by public health personnel who have closer contact with 0-3 year-old children in the community, because its application is easy and it does not require dental equipment. Fluoride varnish should be considered to be used as a caries prevention method in preschoolers in community-based services.
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Journal of the Dental Association of Thailand; Vol.58 No.1 January-March 2008; 1-8