The Tayside Brushing Study - Adult Follow up

Participants on the original trial will be sent an information letter and information leaflet and consent form in the post. The letter will provide contact details for the chief investigator (CI) should they wish to discuss the study before making a decision about whether they would like to take part. The letter will ask participants to complete the informed consent form and return it to the Chief Investigator in the pre-paid envelope provided. If participants do not respond to the first letter a second will be sent two weeks later. No further letters will be sent.

The consent form will ask participants to give details of which days and times are most convenient for them to attend an appointment (evening and weekend appointments will be offered). The letter will advise people that attendance does not replace their usual dental care visits. For those who do not have a dentist and wish to find one, appropriate advice and assistance will be provided by the CI, or a member of the Dental Team.

Participants who return their consent forms will be contacted by telephone by a member of the NHS Tayside dental team to arrange an appointment at a time convenient to them. If participants are unable to travel to the two centres (Broxden Dental Centre in Perth or Kings Cross Dental Department in Dundee) they may be offered a home visit.

When participants attend for their appointment they will be asked to confirm their consent verbally. Dr Morag Curnow (the same dentist that examined the participants when they were in School on the original toothbrushing trial) or another appropriately trained Dentist (named on the study delegation log) will conduct a short dental examination, recording the presence of plaque on anterior teeth and the caries status of each tooth surface using dental lighting and fibre-optic transillumination. The examining dentist will be unaware of which study group the adults belonged to when they were child participants in the trial. Participants will also be asked to complete oral health related questionnaires. Questionnaires will be analysed by a statistician.

Participants will be asked to give consent for their dental records to be accessed using health service records to record dental treatment history. Consent will be recorded in writing. Approval has already been provided by Information Services Division (ISD), NHS National Services Scotland to access the dental treatment records.