20-year-old adults had previously participated in a daily 0.05% NaF mouth rinsing program from age 4 to 11 and in a weekly 0.2% NaF mouth rinsing program from age 12 to 14. The caries prevalence of this fluoride group was compared with that of similarly aged adults who had no experience of any fluoride program. In the fluoride group, there was significantly lower caries prevalence than in the control group. There was a 45%-58% difference in the mean DMFT, and a 56%-71% difference in the mean DMFS. All of the mean DMFS by tooth types and tooth surfaces in the fluoride group were lower than those of the control group. The greatest reduction, 79%-97%, occurred in anterior teeth, and a reduction in the smooth surfaces (61%-92%) was higher than that in pits and fissures (44%-60%). In the fluoride group, there were far fewer missing teeth, and the mean number of highly progressed caries teeth was less than one-half in the control group.
These results in 20-year-old adults indicated that participation in the fluoride mouth rinsing program for 11 years from age 4 to 14 conferred post-treatment benefits.
