The introduction to this thesis provides a brief insight into the development of caries (tooth decay) in human history. The introduction shows that – also in the Netherlands – there is still a lot of caries prevalence gains to be made if the most recent caries prevalence figures are taken into account. The purpose of this PhD research was threefold. The first objective was to determine the clinical effectiveness of two caries preventive protocols compared to a standard preventive protocol based on twice-yearly dental check-ups, oral hygiene instruction, professional fluoride application and routine sealing of erupted permanent molars. The study was conducted as a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The second aim of the study was an economic evaluation of the strategies adopted. In order to provide direction for individualized prevention, mapping common attitudes of parents has been set as a third goal. The relationship with dental health-related variables was examined.

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