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CompletedNCT00497029Updated May 8, 2023

Early Childhood Caries Prevention at a Pediatric Clinic

An interventional study of fluoride varnish and patient education in Dental Caries, sponsored by University of Maryland, Baltimore. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 6 Months to 27 Months, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-05-08.

Sponsored by University of Maryland, Baltimore · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
219
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
6 Months to 27 Months
Sex
All
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Study summary

This purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of a risk-based dental caries prevention program conducted by dental personnel at an urban pediatric primary care clinic serving largely low-income residents of Baltimore, Maryland, and to appraise this program as a model for similar urban pediatric settings.

Read the detailed description

A demonstration caries prevention trial lasting 26 months was conducted with a total of 219 children aged 6 to 27 months of age. The "prevention" group consisting of children 6-15 months of age at their initial visit were compared at the end of the trial with a "comparison" group at their initial visit. The comparison group was 12 months older than the enrollment age of the prevention group (18-27 months) and had not received previous routine professional dental care. Interventions were dental examination and periodic recalls, caries-risk assessments, monitoring of oral mutans streptococci (MS) levels, application of 5.0% sodium fluoride varnish to teeth, dental health counseling to care-givers, referral for dental treatment if indicated and periodic recalls.

Outcome measures were: 1) number of decayed, missing, filled primary tooth surfaces, 2) number of pre-carious lesions, 3) counts of oral MS and 3) care-giver responses to a questionnaire about the child's diet and home care.

Prevention group children at the last recall experienced fewer mean carious dental surfaces (0.1 vs. 1.29, p\<0.014) and over 8-fold less MS (p\<0.013) than comparison group subjects at the initial visit. The number of precarious lesions, however, were not significantly different. In the absence of carious or precarious lesions, oral levels of MS was a reliable indicator of caries risk status, particularly for low risk subjects (sensitivity, 0.64; specificity, 0.98). Caregiver reports of dietary practices and presence or absence of visible dental plaque also served as caries-risk determinants.

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Conditions studied

  • Dental Caries

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Keywords

  • dental caries
  • early childhood caries
  • caries prevention
  • infants
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In context

Dental Caries

1,109 studies on the registry are indexed under Dental Caries; 197 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 219 is above the median of 60 across 916 interventional studies indexed under Dental Caries.

Browse Dental Caries studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Maryland, Baltimore is the lead sponsor of 687 studies on the registry; 130 are open to participants now.

Of its 90 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 63 (70%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
6 Months to 27 Months
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • children in good health who were dentate and 6-27 months
  • a signed informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • antibiotic usage within the previous 14 days
  • oral topical fluoride administration within the previous 7 days
  • previous routine professional dental care
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
219 participants (actual)

Interventions

  • Drugfluoride varnish
  • Behavioralpatient education
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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. dmfs scores

    Time frame: 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. caries-preventive behaviors by care-givers

    Time frame: 12 months

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Study locations

1 site
  • University of Maryland Medical Center: Pediatric Ambulatory Center
    Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
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References and documents

Publications

  • Newacheck PW, Hughes DC, Hung YY, Wong S, Stoddard JJ. The unmet health needs of America's children. Pediatrics. 2000 Apr;105(4 Pt 2):989-97. PubMed 10742361 ↗
  • Gomez SS, Weber AA. Effectiveness of a caries preventive program in pregnant women and new mothers on their offspring. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2001 Mar;11(2):117-22. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-263x.2001.00255.x. PubMed 11310134 ↗
  • Weintraub JA, Ramos-Gomez F, Jue B, Shain S, Hoover CI, Featherstone JD, Gansky SA. Fluoride varnish efficacy in preventing early childhood caries. J Dent Res. 2006 Feb;85(2):172-6. doi: 10.1177/154405910608500211. PubMed 16434737 ↗
  • Recommendations for using fluoride to prevent and control dental caries in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2001 Aug 17;50(RR-14):1-42. PubMed 11521913 ↗
  • American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs. Professionally applied topical fluoride: evidence-based clinical recommendations. J Am Dent Assoc. 2006 Aug;137(8):1151-9. doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.2006.0356. PubMed 16873333 ↗
  • Rozier RG, Sutton BK, Bawden JW, Haupt K, Slade GD, King RS. Prevention of early childhood caries in North Carolina medical practices: implications for research and practice. J Dent Educ. 2003 Aug;67(8):876-85. PubMed 12959161 ↗
  • Bader JD, Rozier RG, Lohr KN, Frame PS. Physicians' roles in preventing dental caries in preschool children: a summary of the evidence for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Am J Prev Med. 2004 May;26(4):315-25. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2003.12.001. PubMed 15110059 ↗
  • Douglass JM, Douglass AB, Silk HJ. Infant oral health education for pediatric and family practice residents. Pediatr Dent. 2005 Jul-Aug;27(4):284-91. PubMed 16317967 ↗
  • Grindefjord M, Dahllof G, Nilsson B, Modeer T. Prediction of dental caries development in 1-year-old children. Caries Res. 1995;29(5):343-8. doi: 10.1159/000262090. PubMed 8521434 ↗
  • Barsamian-Wunsch P, Park JH, Watson MR, Tinanoff N, Minah GE. Microbiological screening for cariogenic bacteria in children 9 to 36 months of age. Pediatr Dent. 2004 May-Jun;26(3):231-9. PubMed 15185804 ↗
  • Alaluusua S, Renkonen OV. Streptococcus mutans establishment and dental caries experience in children from 2 to 4 years old. Scand J Dent Res. 1983 Dec;91(6):453-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0722.1983.tb00845.x. PubMed 6581521 ↗
  • Kohler B, Andreen I, Jonsson B. The earlier the colonization by mutans streptococci, the higher the caries prevalence at 4 years of age. Oral Microbiol Immunol. 1988 Mar;3(1):14-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-302x.1988.tb00598.x. No abstract available. PubMed 3268743 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 8, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00497029
Lead sponsor
University of Maryland, Baltimore
First posted
Jul 6, 2007
Start date
Jun 2004
Completion
Aug 2006
Last update
May 8, 2023

Study contacts

Glenn E Minah, DDS, PhD
principal investigator · Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Maryland Dental School
Lindsey K Grossman, MD
study director · Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2007. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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