Dental health related behaviours in toddlers in low and high caries areas in St Helens, North West England

The aim of this investigation was to compare the dental health behaviour of toddlers in low caries (A) and high caries (B) communities in St Helens. Parents of 60 children aged between 17 and 20 months in community A, and 68 in community B were interviewed at home. Using 24-hour dietary recall, sugar intake was recorded as sugar episodes-a sugar episode being a half-hour period during which any amount of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) was consumed. Exposure to fluoride was recorded according to the number of times fluoride toothpaste was used and whether a fluoride supplement was given in the 24-hour period. The median sugar episode score for community A was 6 per 24-hour period (interquartile range 5 to 8), compared with 10.5 (7 to 13) for community B. Sixty per cent of parents in community A compared with 37% in community B reported brushing their child's teeth twice daily with fluoride toothpaste. The respective figures for use of fluoride supplements were 12% and 6%. It is concluded that patterns of dental health behaviour are established early in children's lives, and that marked differences exist between communities within the same district. Recommendations are made for oral health promotion policy.