Background – High concentration fluoride gel has been used for more than thirty years in dental surgery environments in the Developed world to expose children and adults’ teeth to the benefits of fluoride. This has commonly been applied through the use of quite a large quantity of fluoride gel being placed into an impression tray and positioned over patients’ teeth for a short time period as a one-off or six monthly procedure. However, the lack of access to dental professionals in middle and low-income countries, the cost of individual treatment and the relative cost involved of using quite large quantities of fluoride gel per procedure mean that the vast majority of patients in these countries have never received the proven caries preventing benefits of fluoride gel.  

To our knowledge, very few attempts have been made to utilise high concentrate fluoride gels in other more cost-effective application procedures in middle and low-income countries. For instance, fluoride gel can, periodically, be used instead of toothpaste during tooth brushing, which would be less wasteful of fluoride gel and less time consuming.
 
Brief Description - A three-year scientific study to investigate/demonstrate the effectiveness of using a once every six months brushing with high concentration fluoride gel, as part of a normal school tooth brushing programme using fluoride toothpaste, to reduce childhood caries.

Anticipated Areas of Activity/(Partner Organisations) – Three countries:- Nepal (UMN Oral Health Programme), Philippines (Dept of Education, Philippines Government), TBC - Bangladesh (Operation Heed)

Strategic Partners & Consultants – FDI World Dental Federation, WHO Collaborating Centre in Nijmegan, Holland

Anticipated Outcomes

• Scientific evidence for the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of fluoride gel brushing as a major tool of oral health promotion and caries prevention.
• Implementation of this technique as a cost-effective preventive tool in school oral health programmes, which can be replicated around the world.
• An improvement in the oral health of several thousand children in three countries.