Oral Hygiene Index in Early Childhood Caries, Before and After Topical Fluoride Treatment

BACKGROUND: Circular caries occurs in the earliest age of the children (1 - 1.5 year), immediately after the eruption of the deciduous teeth. During this period, children are too young to be able to properly implement oral hygiene. Consequently, it is at a negligible level, with plenty of soft plaque on the deciduous tooth surfaces. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this clinical trial was to determine the correlation between oral hygiene shown with Oral Hygiene index, and the initial stages of circular caries (initial lesion and superficial form), before and after topical fluoride treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: For determination of the OHI - index we used the method of Green - Vermillion. It was determined two times in 117 patients, during the first visit and immediately before physiological replacement of deciduous teeth. Patients were two to three years old and diagnosed with initial stages of circular caries. Amino fluoride solution was applied once a week, during six months. RESULTS: We obtained statistically significant improvement of OHI - index at the end of the test, among treated subjects from both major groups. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the level of oral hygiene is correlated with the progression of changes in enamel. Topical fluoride treatment has a positive impact on reducing ECC.