Rinses for the control of dental caries

Fluoride mouthrinsing at two different strengths and two different rinse frequencies has proven a versatile method of caries control for individual home-based programmes and community school-based programmes. An advantage of mouthrinsing is that the vehicle is not complex and does not interfere with the intraoral distribution of fluoride ions to caries predilection sites. An average caries reduction of about 30 per cent can be expected from use of this method. The percentage caries reduction, which is a relative figure, is considered to be a property that is intrinsic to the preventive regimen itself, in this case fluoride mouthrinsing, and is unaffected by the caries attack rate of the population being served. On the other hand, the benefit of the procedure is a function of the numerical caries reduction achieved by the intervention. Numerical reductions are absolute figures which do depend upon the caries rate of the population. High caries attack rates increase the numerical caries reduction because there are more lesions to inhibit; low attack rates produce low numerical reductions and consequently low benefits. Therefore, the decision to use fluoride mouthrinsing for either an individual or a community must be based upon knowledge of the caries risk of the targeted individual or group.