Preventing disease

The dental health of the nation has improved considerably over the last three decades. Today, in most instances, dental diseases are preventable or controllable by adopting appropriate daily oral care regimes and by regular dental attendance.

A paper looking at the prevention of dental disease including dental caries reviewed the hierarchy of evidence available to support a range of preventive measures for home use.1 This strength of evidence supports advice and interventions including the use of a fluoride mouthrinse as a preventive measure for dental caries stating that:

In conclusion this paper states that fluoride rinses are effective in reducing caries in at risk patients over six years of age and may reduce root caries and reverse existing carious lesions in adults and the elderly.

With the current drive for greater emphasis on the prevention of ill health, and a reduction in inequalities of health, by the giving of advice and application of informed actions it is important the whole dental team give consistent messages and that those messages are up-to-date and correct. Delivering better oral health – an Evidence-based toolkit for prevention2 launched by the health department in 2007 aims to provide practical evidenced based guidance to help promote oral health and prevent oral diseases.