Reductions in dental decay in 3-year old children in Greater Glasgow and Clyde: repeated population inspection studies over four years.

Background: Dental decay remains one of the world's most prevalent diseases in childhood. It is unfortunate that the proportion of children suffering from oral disease is so high, given that dental decay is almost entirely preventable. The objective of this study was to examine dental inspection data from three-year old children to assess the extent to which the dental health in Greater Glasgow and Clyde had improved during the initial years of the Childsmile intervention programme.