Association of propolis fluoride with arrested dentinal caries and dental plaque levels

It is estimated that 28.9% of children aged 5-9 have dental problems. However only 35.1% of these receive dental treatment. The study aimed to evaluate the effect topical propolis fluoride application for stopping the activity of dentinal caries, and to analyze the correlation between topical propolis fluoride application and plaque index. Convenience sampling was used to include 183 subjects age 7-9 year old, all student were performed dental examination to get diagnose of dentinal caries surface was measure by index DMF-S, while dental plaque examination was use disclosing solution applied in all tooth surfaces, All tooth surfaces had active dentinal caries were smeared with propolis fluoride 10%. The numbers of active dentinal caries and the plaque index were examined at baseline and follow-up evaluation after 1 month. In conclusion, there was a significant difference between the activity of dentinal caries before and after application of propolis fluoride, and there was also a significant but weak negative correlation (p=0.015 and r=-0.177) between the plaque index and the percentage of arrested dentinal caries. It showed that propolis fluoride could stop/arrest dentinal caries activity, while the lower plaque index could affect to the process of dentinal caries activity is getting slower.