Other studies have also reported success in terms of a decreased prevalence of ECC (26, 28–37), however, they all required additional staff to conduct the interventions and in many cases regular preventive dental visits of mothers ⁄ children. In the present study, personal contact with participants was limited to the enrolment and dental examination of the children as an outcome assessment. Only test group A had a further telephone contact and this consultation did not improve the study outcomes (Table 2). In fact, many considered the phone call more disruptive than helpful, even when they were asked to indicate the most suitable time slot to conduct the consultation. The most costly and time-consuming part of the intervention
therefore appeared to be ineffective.