Dental interventions to prevent caries in children

The proportion of primary one pupils with no obvious dental decay has risen from 42% in 1988 to 67% in 2012. However, this still means that nearly a third of Scottish children suffer with a preventable disease and this burden is greatest in those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Remit and target users

The guideline provides recommendations based on current evidence for best practice in dental interventions to prevent caries in children aged 0–18 years carried out by dental care teams within dental practices in Scotland. The guideline focuses on advice or interventions that are applied at an individual rather than a population level. This does not imply that population-based approaches are not important or not recommended.

This guideline will be of interest to healthcare professionals providing oral health advice to children in a one-to-one situation. It may also be of interest to parents and carers, primary-care and public-health staff and others involved in children’s health, well being and development.

How this guideline was developed

This guideline was developed using a standard methodology based on a systematic review of the evidence. Further details can be found in SIGN 50: A Guideline Developer’s Handbook.

Keeping up to date

This guideline was issued in 2014 and considered for review in 2017 at which time it was endorsed as current.

Some recommendations may be out of date, declaration of interests governance may not be in line with current policy.