Economic evaluation of a risk-based caries prevention program in preschool children

We have previously reported that, in young children, a risk-based caries prevention program compared with conventional prevention has a good caries-preventive effect. The present study aimed to assess the economic aspects of this program. We used the presence of mutans streptococci in plaque (Dentocult-SM) and/or the presence of incipient carious lesions at 2 years of age for risk assessment, and measured the outcome of caries (yes/no) at the age of 5 years. Dental assistants carried out the screening and preventive work. The economic analysis included the actual running costs of the program during the 3-year follow-up based on the time spent on dental visits. The costs per child per 3 years were significantly lower in the risk-based group (54 euros) than in the conventional prevention group (69 euros) (Student's t test, P = 0.004). If a dentist with an assistant had done all the work, the costs would have been twice as high. Compared to conventional prevention, the results suggest that risk-based prevention can be effective in reducing both costs and dental caries in preschool children, provided that the screening and preventive measures are delegated to preventive dental assistants.