Fluoride varnish, a dental preventive treatment, reduces the
incidence of early childhood tooth decay in combination with
dental health counseling for parents, according to a study by
investigators at the UCSF School of Dentistry. The investigators
examined cavity-free infants and young children, primarily from
low-income Chinese or Hispanic families in San Francisco. All
families received counseling on dental health, and children were
randomized into three groups: those receiving fluoride varnish
twice per year, those receiving it once per year, and those not
receiving it at all. Of the initial 376 children enrolled, 280
completed the study. According to study findings, children who
did not receive any fluoride varnish were more than twice as
likely to develop tooth decay as the children who were assigned
to the annual fluoride varnish group. Children who did not
receive fluoride varnish were nearly four times more likely to
develop tooth decay than those assigned to receive it twice per
year (four treatment