Topical iodine and fluoride varnish effectiveness in the primary dentition: a quasi-experimental study

Combining fluorides with antimicrobials may be of value because fluorides alone do not provide complete protection. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effectiveness of combined topical treatment with 10% polyvinyl-pyrollidone iodine (PVP-I) and 5% sodium fluoride varnish (FV) with FV alone.

One hundred seventy-two 12- to 30-month-old children received either combined or single therapy in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, between June 2008 and March 2009. The children received a mean of 2.5 treatments in the PVP-I combined group (range=2-3) and 2.8 treatments in the FV group (range=2-4) and were then examined.

The percentage of children with any new decayed primary teeth was 41% (n=81) in the PVP-I combined group and 54% (n=90) in the FV group. Multivariate log-binomial regression was used to compare the rate of any new decay between groups, controlling for the number of teeth at baseline and the number of treatment visits. The risk ratio for treatment is 0.69 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.51-0.94). No adverse effects were observed.

Combined treatment with 10% polyvinylpyrollidone iodine and 5% sodium fluoride varnish reduced the rate of new tooth decay by 31% over fluoride varnish alone.