Dental caries status and effectiveness of fluoride varnish in caries prevention in school children of Rural area of Namkum , Ranchi: Randomised control trial.

INTRODUCTION Dental caries is one of the most common microbiological infectious diseases found in children and even adults worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 60% to 90% of all children of school age have experienced dental caries.1 Changing diet pattern of refined carbohydrates and improper oral hygiene practice are the main culprits. Fluorides play a central role in the prevention of dental caries and are also used therapeutically for the inactivation of incipient carious lesions. The effect of fluoride is mainly achieved when applied topically, which is further enhanced when accompanied by good oral hygiene.2 Fluoride varnish application twice a year reduces the incidence of caries by 37% in primary teeth and 43% in permanent teeth.3Topical fluorides increase the availability of fluoride ions in saliva and enhance the formation of fluorapatite. Fluorapatite is strongly resistant to acid attacks and demineralization. Varnish is a professional topically applied fluoride system. Varnish has been used extensively as a caries prevention strategy for over 3 decades. Despite their high concentration of fluoride, fluoride varnishes are considered safe. This may be due to the fast setting of the varnish, which reduces the amount of ingested fluoride. 4,5

Namkum CD block is located on the Ranchi plateau. Namkum CD block had a total population of 145,841 out of which about 60% are tribal and out of the total population, 118,002 were rural and 27,839 were urban. There are 92 inhabited villages in Namkum CD block. Namkum CD block had 11 villages with pre-primary schools, 77 villages with primary schools, 35 villages with middle schools, 11 villages with secondary schools. 6

The tribal population Namkum CD block usually have low literacy rate and they follow their traditional custom for health treatment. Besides the facilities of dental health services are poor in rural and tribal location.

NEED FOR STUDY

This research will help in prevention of dental caries as soon as the permanent tooth start erupting and guide children of rural area about importance of proper brushing and diet which can be implemented by the community department for further implementing this model for all the schools.