Relationship of Dental Caries at Different Concentrations of Fluoride in Endemic Areas: An Epidemiological Study

Objective: Fluoride has been an effective tool to prevent dental caries but efforts have been on to establish optimal level of fluoride in drinking water in different communities. The present study seeks to establish the safe and acceptable concentration of fluoride in drinking water which would lead to maximum caries protection with least amount of clinically observable dental fluorosis. Study Design: 30 villages from 2 districts of Haryana were classified according to differing levels of fluoride in the drinking water. 3007 school children(1558 males & 1449 female)] were examined and the DMFT score was related to the level of fluoride in drinking water. Results: The caries prevalence was maximum (48.02%) in the area having 0.50 ppm fluoride in drinking water. The children from area having the 1.13 ppm fluoride level had the least caries prevalence i.e. 28.07%. Conclusion: The results of the present study did not suggest any additional anticaries benefit beyond 1.13ppm fluoride level. The present investigation showed that the optimal fluoride levels for drinking water for our conditions were near 1.13ppm (1-1.2 ppm) as there was maximum caries protection with least amount of esthetically objectionable fluorosis at that level.