Author(s):
1. Đorđe Mirjanić, JZU Dom zdravlja Banja Luka , Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2. Jovan Vojinović, University Business Academy Novi Sad, Faculty of Dental Medicine in Pancevo, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
3. Vladan Mirjanić, Medicinski fakultet Banja Luka , Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
4. Marija Vuletović, Građevinski fakultet, Beograd, Serbia

Abstract:
Numerous studies confirm the view that the inclusion of fluoride in the composition of toothpaste in the early 70s of the twentieth century is the main reason for the mass decline in the prevalence of caries in developed countries. The minimum fluoride concentrations in toothpastes were 1000 ppm (0,1%). Due to fear of development of fluorosis, it was initially considered that it was not necessary to use toothpaste at all in children up to age of 2, and then the so called “children toothpastes” were introduced and intensively advertised with fluoride concentrations from 200 ppm to 700 ppm. The increase in early childhood caries, and indisputable evidence that brushing teeth without fluoride does not have a great preventive effect, have changed previous protocols, so that for more than a decade the position of most international and national associations of pediatric dentists has been that even the youngest have 1000 ppm fluoride in toothpastes. Fluorosis is prevented by applying small amounts of such toothpaste to a brush; rice grain (up to age of 2) and pea grain (up to age of 6). In Serbia, such protocol was first proposed in 2008 by the Clinic for Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry (in accordance with the European Academy of Pediatric Dentistry -EAPD), according to which a toothpaste with 500 ppm was proposed for children up to age of 2, but this was later changed to 1000 ppm for all ages, especially when it comes to children with risk of caries. The aim of this paper is to determine the extent to which the parents are familiar with the right selection of toothpaste for children up to age of 3 and how much dentists comply with the contemporary protocol in their recommendations to parents. An online survey was conducted with 500 parents and dentists, using the app Polls for Pages, whose links were applied to social networks or forwarded by e-mail. The obtained results showed that 39% of parents choose toothpaste based on the recommendation of their dentist, 19,2% toothpaste with less fluoride, 10,6% toothpaste with 1000 ppm fluoride, 7,6% fluoride-free toothpaste, 6% based on taste and smell, 5,7% based on advertising, 5,8% choose online, 4,9% do not use toothpaste at all at that age, and the rest according to the age indicated on the toothpaste. The following answers were obtained in the dentist's survey: 41,9% recommends toothpaste to a certain risk, 25,9% toothpaste with less fluoride, 20,3% claim that toothpaste should not be used at all at that age, 9,3% toothpaste with 1000 ppm fluoride with smaller amounts on the brush, 2,3% recommends only fluoride-free toothpastes. The obtained results show that only 10,6% of parents know which paste to choose, while 39% rely on the dentist's recommendations. At the same time, there is confusion in the field of information and that a worrying number of dentists (48,5%) are not familiar with modern protocols, which significantly reduces the prevention potentials. It is necessary to devote much more efforts to education on prevention and informing the profession of the accepted protocols.

Key words:
Children toothpaste,fluorides. Early childhood caries,application of fluoride protocols

Thematic field:
SYMPOSIUM B - Biomaterials and nanomedicine

Date of abstract submission:
21.07.2021.

Conference:
Contemporary Materials 2021 - Savremeni materijali