Prevalence of parents willingness to take up fluoride treatment for their children, the gender differences and common age of acceptance - A retrospective study

Abstract

Fluoride used as a chemotherapeutic agent for caries prevention has been widely researched and documented. The change in the prevalence of caries and advent of different fluoride formulations along with the desire to maximize the benefits and minimise the side effects has led to evoking guidelines for its use. Fluoride varnish, which is one of the most important materials to prevent early childhood caries, is easy to apply and well-tolerated by children. The study aims in assessing the perception of parents towards professional fluoride treatment, opinions, differences and evaluating the prevalent condition. The study was performed in the outpatient department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry. Data required for the study was procured by reviewing patient records and analysed data of 86000 patients between June 2019 to March 2020. The data was sorted in excel and statistically analysed using the IBM SPSS software analysis and the results interpreted in graphs and tabulations. The prevalence of fluoride treatment was found to be 37.7%. The study shows a female predilection (Chi-square test; p-value- 0.252) and age is found to be negatively correlating with fluoride type (p<0.01). It is imperative that regular professional fluoride treatment for pediatric patients is followed by parents to prevent and manage tooth decay effectively.