Oral Health: School Fluoride Varnish Delivery Programs, Updated 2026

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Oral Health: School Fluoride Varnish Delivery Programs: Community Preventive Services Task Force Finding and Rationale Statement Ratified June 2024; Updated 2026
• Corporate Authors:
  Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF)
• Description:
  Context: Untreated tooth decay, one of the most prevalent diseases among children, diminishes the ability to eat, speak, learn, and play (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2000). Prevalence is significantly higher among children from families with lower incomes as well as racial and ethnic minority groups (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2019). Although there is strong evidence that topical fluoride treatments prevent decay in all teeth (Marinho et al. 2013; Weyant et al. 2013), less than 18% of children from families with lower incomes received a treatment during an annual dental visit in 2013-2014 (Wei et al. 2018). Significant disparities in fluoride treatment receipt also exist by race and ethnicity (Wei et al. 2018). Fluoride varnish is a commonly used topical fluoride treatment modality applied periodically to all teeth for children (Clark et al. 2020). The use of fluoride varnish for caries prevention is off-label (Clark et al. 2020). Fluoride varnish does not require specialized dental equipment and can be applied quickly by both dental and non-dental professionals in a variety of settings (Chou et al. 2021; Chou et al. 2023).
  
  Delivering evidence-based preventive dental services in schools can increase receipt of services among children unlikely to receive them, otherwise. The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF), for example, recommends delivery of dental sealants in schools to reduce decay based on evidence that school programs increased receipt of sealants, reduced disparities by income in receipt of dental sealants, and reduced caries (Community Preventive Services Task Force 2013). Dental sealants are placed on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth (typically molars) in children. Sealant placement requires portable dental equipment and meticulous technique by dental health professionals (Community Preventive Services Task Force 2013).
  
  The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) findings and recommendations for "Oral Health: School Fluoride Varnish Delivery Programs" are based on systematic reviews of evidence of effectiveness and economic impact. All CPSTF findings and recommendations were originally published in The Community Guide.
  
  The 2024 Findings and Rationale Statement was updated in July 2026. This update includes the addition of these supporting document appendices: Appendix A: Analytic Framework (Effectiveness Review); Appendix B: Search Strategy (Effectiveness Review); Appendix C: Included Studies (Effectiveness Review); Appendix D: Summary Evidence Table (Effectiveness Review).
  
  
• Subjects:
  Child Dental Caries Fluorides, Topical Fluoride Treatment Health Education, Dental Oral Health School Students
• Keywords:
  Cavities Children Fluoride Varnish
• Series:
  CPSTF Finding and Rationale Statement
• Subseries:
  Adolescent Health ; Oral Health ; Social Determinants of Health
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc/168658
• Publisher:
  Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• CIO:
  Office of Science (OS)
• Topic:
  Diseases and Conditions
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  60 pdf pages
• Citation:
  The Community Preventive Service Task Force (CPSTF). Oral Health: School Fluoride Varnish Delivery Programs, Updated 2026. The Community Guide [www.thecommunityguide.org]. The Community Preventive Service Task Force, Atlanta, Georgia, 2026. https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc/168658
• Collection(s):
  The Community Guide
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:70ad5f3dc39f6d41334423f92766eaaaddfb6b9db2cc1e26e0eec17556fbb7990b9c2da09fd672c4cb6ce4568eb6a99a220352292c8d39d141667f5c59f6975b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/168658/cdc_168658_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.25 MB ]