Prevalence of dental fluorosis and associated risk factors in 11-15 year old school children of Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu, India: A cross sectional survey

• Main Authors: Baskaradoss Jagan (Author), Clement Roger (Author), Narayanan Aswath (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

<b>Objectives:</b> This study presents data on the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis in 11-15-years-old school children of Kanyakumari district, TamilNadu, India, and also the relationships between prevalence of dental fluorosis and selected risk factors. <b> Materials and Methods:</b> A total of 1800 children, from all the nine blocks of Kanyakumari district, studying in classes 6-10 were examined using type III examination. The assessment form designed specifically for this study was used while examining each student. <b> Results:</b> Dental fluorosis was present in 15.8&#x0025; (285 children) of the study population and the community fluorosis index was calculated to be 0.27. The prevalence of dental fluorosis varied from as low as 1.4&#x0025; in some blocks to as high as 29.4&#x0025; in some others. There was a significant difference in the level of dental fluorosis between rural and urban residents (<i> P</i> &lt; 0.001). The prevalence of dental fluorosis was higher in children who consumed pipe water as compared to children who consumed ground water. 65&#x0025; of the children with dental fluorosis had no caries, indicating the positive effects of fluoride. <b> Conclusions:</b> The prevalence of dental fluorosis can be attributed to the level of fluoride in the drinking water as it exhibited a step-wise increase when the water fluoride levels increased from 1.5-1.7 ppm. Measures for defluoridation of drinking water before distribution has to be taken in the high prevalence blocks to lower the burden of dental fluorosis in this community.

Item Description

0970-9290
1998-3603