Caries prevention--a survey of parental views

Three hundred and fifteen parents of pre-school children from socially deprived areas in the Forth Valley region of Scotland were interviewed to assess their preferred methods of controlling dental decay in their children's mouths. Thirty-five percent of the parents believed that dental disease in their children would be most satisfactorily controlled by the dental profession, whilst 35% felt that their children were unlikely to suffer from disease, even without any specific preventive actions being taken. Controlling sucrose intake was less popular than a hypothetical anti-caries vaccine as a means of preventing dental decay, with fluoridation of water supplies being preferred by only 5% of the sample. This study shows that parents of some socially deprived children in Central Scotland prefer to retain the ability to determine their child's dental future, in collaboration with their family dentist, rather than accept public health measures.