Caries Control Program for Kindergarten Children in Hong Kong

Abstract

Aim: To set up an outreach dental service to prevent and to controldental caries of kindergarten children in Hong Kong. Methods: Invitation letters describing this project aims and procedures weresent to parents of kindergarten children. Parental consents and parental questionnaire were collected. Dental health education was provided and oral examination was performed in kindergarten.Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) was applied to decayed teeth toarrest caries progression. Children who required extraction werereferred to community dental clinics. Kindergarten teacherswere trained to deliver oral health education. Follow up will be performed biannually until the children enter primary schoolswhere they can join the government school dental care service. Results: Twenty kindergartens were recruited. We provided oralhealth education to and screened a total of 1,954 kindergartenchildren with parental consent. Among them there were 860children with dental decay and the maximum number of decayedteeth was 19 out of the 20 primary teeth. The caries prevalencewas 44%. They all received SDF applications to arrest the caries progression. No complication or adverse side-effect has beenreported so far. Training of kindergarten teachers were providedso that they could reinforce the message of oral hygiene in their teaching. The oral health education to preschool children andthe training of Kindergarten teachers were well received by thechildren and teachers respectively. Conclusion: An outreachdental caries control service has been successfully set up. It has been well received by the kindergarten teachers, and children andtheir parents.