[In France. Progress in oral hygiene]

Starting from a very low level, (50 million Frenchmen only bought 10 millions toothbrushes in 1961) the French Union for oral health ( UFSBD ) played an important role in the improvements registered in the last 15 years. After analysing several foreign experiments, particularly the Danish one, the UFSBD decided that its starting point would be oral health education. To this effect it created a network of Committees which covered the entire national territory. The Ministry of Health allowed the UFSBD to visit schools. Two standard lessons illustrated with slides were prepared. In a second phase, the UFSBD organized the detection of caries and other causes of dental decay. In 1983 the UFSBD was running almost one hundred prevention centres, many of them equipped with mobile units. In a third phase, as a prophylactic measure, the UFSBD distributed fluoride tablets in schools. The UFSBD is presently engaged in a vast evaluation programme which will extend over six years.