NEW GUIDELINES on the use of topical fluorides for the prevention of tooth decay in Irish children and adolescents were launched yesterday.
The aim of the guidelines is to maximise the benefits to Irish children under the age of 16 years from the use of topical fluorides, which include fluoride-containing toothpaste, mouth rinse and professionally applied fluoride products such as varnish and gel.
Topical fluorides are applied to the surface of teeth for a local protective effect and are not intended for ingestion.
The launch of the new guidelines on the use of topical fluorides mark the introduction of the first evidence-based principles for the HSE public dental service.
Although the guidelines were developed for the public dental service, lead researcher Carmel Parnell points out they will also be of interest to general dental practitioners and their dental teams and to parents of children using the public service.
The guidelines were developed by a collaborative group involving the Oral Health Services Research Centre in Cork, the HSE and the Cochrane Centre in Oxford.
They were developed in response to a consultancy report on the use of fluorides in the promotion of oral health in the Republic of Ireland. Ms Parnell, a senior HSE dental surgeon, said the report found variation across the country in the practices and policies for caries-prevention programmes involving fluorides, and identified a lack of guidance within the public dental service on the best use of professionally applied topical fluorides.
The guidelines were launched yesterday in University College Cork and will start to be implemented in 2009, but Ms Parnell pointed out it will probably be a number of years before their impact is seen. She stressed that the use of topical fluoride was just one aspect of the prevention of tooth decay.
