Sammanfattning
The purpose was to explore caries preventive care to children below three years of age at well-baby clinics. In total, 163 public health nurses in five Norwegian counties participated by answering a questionnaire. The results showed that parents asked for oral health information, and that health nurses delivered information when the child was six months old. Half of the health nurses reported to examine the children's teeth at the age of two years. The health nurses followed guidelines from health authorities regarding age to introduce tooth brushing and use of fluoridated toothpaste. One-third (32%) of health nurses recommended fluoride lozenges to more than half of the children. Recommendations of fluoride lozenges were not associated with proportion of children with caries risk at the well-baby clinics. The results indicated that fluoride lozenges were recommended to more children than those having caries risk. Health nurses were satisfied with own knowledge on oral health, but half of the nurses reported to lack knowledge on oral health. The health nurses' recommendations corresponded to the health authorities' guidelines in some areas, but the results indicated that the public health nurses could benefit from more knowledge about evaluation of caries risk, examination of children's teeth and use of fluoride lozenges.