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Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition | 11/2017 INTERVIEW 05 undesirable effects of SDF— dark discoloration of carious SDF-treated dentine—are out- weighed by its desirable proper- ties in most cases, and no toxic- ity or adverse events associated with its use have been reported. The use of a second application using potassium iodide can re- duce the staining without affect- ing the efficacy. If the study proves successful, could SDF help ease social ine- qualities in the prevalence of den- tal caries in children? Absolutely. Dental caries prevalence occurs on a social gradient, with more disease in children from low socioeco- nomic groups. SDF application can be a cost-effective means of treatment for many disadvan- taged children or in areas where there is a great shortage of dental staff. It can even be applied in outreach settings outside of the dental clinic, such as schools, early learning centres, maternal and child health clinics, and playgroups. So, it would be relatively easy to implement treatment with SDF in daily dental practice? Yes. The treatment is low- cost. It does not require expen- sive equipment or supporting in- frastructure. Therefore, the pro- gramme is easy and inexpensive to set up. When one compares the costs of the protocol to the cost of managing severe early child- hood caries under general an- aesthesia, the cost of dental gen- eral anaesthesia is dispropor- tionally high. Dental caries is the highest cause of potentially preventable hospital admis- sions in Victoria for children in the 0- to 19-year-old age bracket. In fact, around 4,500 Victorian children aged 0–14 years are hospitalised every year owing to dental conditions. Do you think, when addressing the global burden of dental caries, measures such as this are more ef- fective than educational initia- tives? Or do they always need to go hand in hand? Tooth decay is caused by life- style factors such as diet and oral hygiene. To eradicate tooth decay, there needs to be educa- tion addressing the cause of the disease. Improving global oral health literacy and addressing the social determinants of poor oral health are the keys to reduc- ing the global burden of tooth decay. Topical fluorides form an important part of managing car- ies, but they do not resolve the need for oral health education and prevention. In fact, we know that if one doesn’t address the cause of the decay process, one can get secondary caries around an arrested cavity after one has applied SDF. From your personal experience, do you feel that the number of children suffering from severe dental caries has increased or de- clined in the last few years? I believe the pattern of decay is slowly changing. The recent Victorian Preschoolers Oral Health Survey revealed that over 56 per cent of Victorian children between the ages of 3 and 5 years present with signs of dental caries. The evidence demonstrates significantly worse figures for children of health- care and pensioner concession cardholders, Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islanders and those from non-English-speak- ing backgrounds. These high- risk communities need to be targeted to help close the gap in the fight against early child- hood caries. It is a proven fact that dental car- ies is a preventable disease. Why is it that most countries—indus- trial nations and developing coun- tries alike—still struggle with a high prevalence of dental caries? Tooth decay is preventable, but government bodies and pub- lic health organisations need to take the lead in creating strate- gies to reach those most in need. There is considerable inequality in the distribution of oral dis- ease, with 80 per cent of the bur- den of disease in Australia con- centrated in only 20 per cent of the population. Dental Health Services Victoria has taken on the challenge, using the latest evidence and data, to help pro- vide an equitable and effective oral healthcare system. Our aim with this protocol is to provide an example of a safe, evidence- based solution that has been tri- alled and found to be effective in Victoria. Thank you very much for the in- terview. AD REPROCESSING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL Start Finis h W&H App Traceability W&H offers a range of hygiene products which optimally complement each other to satisfy the high day to day requirements encountered in the dental practice. You can find the perfect solution for the reprocessing of your dental handpieces in the W&H hygiene cycle, at wh.com or from your local dental products dealer. wh.com