Evaluation of fluoride exposures in children.

This paper reports the findings of a study looking at children's fluoride exposures in detail beyond the fluoride content of home drinking water. What emerges are the most clinically relevant questions to ask parents when conducting histories of fluoride exposure of child patients. Dental caries in children has decreased dramatically in the U.S. and other developed countries. At the same time, the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis in the U.S. may be increasing because of the widespread ingestion of fluoride. Children are vulnerable to fluorosis, according to the results of a fifty-item questionnaire administered to mothers through the University of Iowa. Patients have reported multiple water sources and fluoride levels, use of soy-based formulas, toothpaste ingestion, and dietary fluoride supplements.