Dental caries and fluorosis in children consuming water with different fluoride concentrations in Maiquetia, Vargas State, Venezuela

The objective of this study was to determine the experience of fluorosis and dental caries in 8- 12 year old children that drink water with different fluoride concentrations, from Maiquetía, Vargas State. Four hundred and twenty-one children were evaluated and divided in groups of 84 children each, according with their age (8-9-10-11) but 85 for the age 12. This evaluation was developed by a calibrated dentist using Dean's Index for dental fluorosis examining only the six upper anterior teeth and DMFT/dmft index to determine dental caries, following the criteria established by the WHO. In addition, a social status questionnaire was given to the subjects and samples of water and salt from the communities were collected. Thirty-three per cent of the children in this study were males and 67% were females. Results indicated that the mean DMFT and dmft were 0.91 and 1.88, respectively, showing a total of 2.17 teeth with dental caries being the decayed component, the highest component observed in both dentitions. The mean prevalence of dental fluorosis for the studied population was 16.6%, where the very mild category (8.5%) predominated. Maria May was the most affected school with dental fluorosis (41.5%) and the fluoride concentration in drinking water after analyses was 1.58%. The results of this study indicate the presence of an inverse relationship between fluoride concentrations in the water collected at the schools and the prevalence of dental fluorosis in the permanent dentition of school children, but not in the primary dentition.