Sukhabogi J R, Parthasarathi P, Anjum S, Shekar Brc, Padma Cm, Rani As
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Government Dental College and Hospital, Hyderabad, India.
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad, India.
Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2014 Sep;4(Suppl 3):S245-52. doi: 10.4103/2141-9248.141967.
Fluoride is a double edged sword. The assessment of dental caries and fluorosis in endemic fluoride areas will facilitate in assessing the relation between fluoride concentrations in water with dental caries, dental fluorosis simultaneously.
The objective of the following study is to assess the dental caries and dental fluorosis prevalence among 12 and 15-year-old school children in Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, India.
This was a cross-sectional study. Two stage cluster sampling technique was employed to select 20 schools from Nalgonda district. The oral examination of available 12 and 15-year-old children fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria was carried out to assess dental caries and fluorosis. The examination was conducted by a single trained and calibrated examiner using the mouth mirror and community periodontal index probe under natural daylight. These areas were divided into four categories, low, medium, high and very high fluoride areas based on the fluoride concentration at the time of statistical analysis. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16 (IBM, Chicago, USA).
The caries prevalence was less among 12-year-old children (39.9% [369/924]) compared with 15-years-old children (46.7% [444/951]). The prevalence was more among females (50.4% [492/977]) than males (35.8% [321/898]). The prevalence was more in low fluoride area (60.5% [300/496]) followed by very high fluoride area (54.8% [201/367]), high fluoride area (32.4% [293/904]) and medium fluoride area (17.6% [19/108]) in the descending order. The fluorosis prevalence increased with increasing fluoride concentration with no difference in gender and age distribution.
Low fluoride areas require fluoridation or alternate sources of fluoride, whereas high fluoride areas require defluoridation. Defluoridation of water is an immediate requirement in areas with fluoride concentration of 4 parts per million and above as dental fluorosis is a public health problem in these areas with 100% prevalence.
氟是一把双刃剑。对地方性氟病区的龋齿和氟斑牙进行评估，将有助于同时评估水中氟浓度与龋齿、氟斑牙之间的关系。
本研究的目的是评估印度安得拉邦纳尔贡达区12岁和15岁学童的龋齿和氟斑牙患病率。
这是一项横断面研究。采用两阶段整群抽样技术从纳尔贡达区选取20所学校。对符合纳入和排除标准的12岁和15岁儿童进行口腔检查，以评估龋齿和氟斑牙情况。检查由一名经过培训且校准合格的检查者在自然日光下使用口镜和社区牙周指数探针进行。根据统计分析时的氟浓度，将这些地区分为四类：低氟区、中氟区、高氟区和极高氟区。数据使用社会科学统计软件包第16版（美国伊利诺伊州芝加哥市IBM公司）进行分析。
12岁儿童的龋齿患病率（39.9% [369/924]）低于15岁儿童（46.7% [444/951]）。女性患病率（50.4% [492/977]）高于男性（35.8% [321/898]）。患病率从高到低依次为：低氟区（60.5% [300/496]）、极高氟区（54.8% [201/367]）、高氟区（32.4% [293/904]）和中氟区（17.6% [19/108]）。氟斑牙患病率随氟浓度升高而增加，在性别和年龄分布上无差异。
低氟区需要进行氟化处理或提供其他氟源，而高氟区需要进行除氟处理。对于氟浓度达到百万分之四及以上地区，立即进行水的除氟处理很有必要，因为这些地区氟斑牙患病率达100%，已成为公共卫生问题。
