Washington: Fillings may not be the best way to tackle tooth decay in children, suggests a recent study. Findings from a major dental trial suggest that preventing tooth decay from occurring in the first place is the most effective way for parents to help avoid pain and infection from decay in their children’s teeth.
A three-year study comparing three different treatment options for tooth decay in children’s teeth, led by dentists from the Universities of Dundee, Newcastle, Sheffield, Cardiff, Queen Mary University of London and Leeds, has found no evidence to suggest that conventional fillings are more effective than sealing decay into teeth, or using prevention techniques alone, in stopping pain and infection from tooth decay in primary teeth.
The Fiction trial, the largest of its kind to date, also found that 450 children who took part in the study experienced tooth decay and pain, regardless of which kind of dental treatment they received.
“Our study shows that each way of treating decay worked to a similar level but that children who get tooth decay at a young age have a high chance of experiencing toothache and abscesses regardless of the way the dentist manages the decay,” said Professor Nicola Innes, Chair of Paediatric Dentistry at the University of Dundee and lead author.
“What is absolutely clear from our trial is that the best way to manage tooth decay is not by drilling it out or sealing it in — it’s by preventing it in the first place,” continued Innes in the paper published in the Journal of — Dental Research.
—ANI
