Health economic evaluation on pit and fissure sealants of first permanent molars at ages of 7 – 8 years

  Objective  To evaluate cost-benefit of pit and fissure sealant of first permanent molar among school-age children in Shenzhen city.

  Methods  Using stratified multistage random sampling, we recruited 2 811 school children aged 7 – 8 years in Shenzhen city in 2016 and assigned 1 510 students into a case group with pit and fissure sealant of first permanent molar and 1 301 without the treatment into a control group. All the students were followed up and examined for carries prevalence in 2017.

  Results  The protection rate of pit and fissure sealant against caries of first permanent molar was 42.11% in 2016 among 2 811 students and 38.42% in 2017 among 2 803 students. The overall net profit yield of pit and fissure sealant of first permanent molar was 4.12% in 2016 and 4.72% in 2017; the cost-effective ratio was 849.79 yuan (RMB) for the expense of preventing one permanent molar from carries in 2016 and the ratio was 740.74 yuan in 2017; the benefit-cost ratio for the project in 2016 and 2017 were 3.73 and 3.41, respectively.

  Conclusion  In 2016 and 2017, the project of pit and fissure sealant of first permanent molar among school-age children in Shenzhen city achieved remarkable effectiveness; the cost-benefit of the project is good but the net profit yield is slightly low.