Fluoridation in Newcastle and Northumberland. A clinical study of 5-year-old children
Rugg-Gunn, A.J.; Carmichael, C.L.; French, A.D.; Furness, J.A.
British Dental Journal 142(12): 395-402
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0007-0610 PMID: 267489 Document Number: 117864
The dental health of 771 children 5 years old was surveyed to assess the effect of 6 years of fluoridation in Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland. Children from urban and rural, fluoridated (F) and nonfluoridated (NF) areas were examined; each pair of areas was matched for social class. A questionnaire, on toothache and general anaesthetic experience, was completed by the parents of 88% of the children. Dental caries was 3.5 teeth/child in the F urban area and 4.1 teeth/child in the F rural area compared with 6.1 teeth/child in both the corresponding NF areas. About 1 in 3 children was caries-free in the F areas compared with about 1 in 9 in the NF areas. Less than 10% of the children in the F areas had gross caries compared with 35% in the NF areas. The cost of treatment already completed was lower in the F areas: by 36% in the urban and by 22% in the rural communities. The cost of treatment still required was also lower in the F areas: by 61% in the urban and by 76% in the rural communities. Point prevalence of abscesses was less in the F areas. Life-time experience of toothache was 45 and 55% lower in the urban and rural F areas, respectively. Similarly, general anaesthetic experience was 47% less in the urban and 68% less in the rural F areas, compared with the NF areas. There was no evidence that fluoridation was associated with delayed eruption of first permanent molars.