RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The assessment of urinary fluoride excretion during dental developing stage has been reported for different countries with community fluoride programs. Also, one of the factors that could influence on retention and excretion of fluoride is the deficient nutrition so the aim of this study was to determine fluoride urinary excretion by a group of preschool children with and without malnutrition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Urinary samples from 24 hours were collected from 60 preschool children selected by convenience from Iztapalapa area of Mexico City, 30 with malnutrition and 30 with standard nutritrional status by weight for age. The samples were analyzed by fluoride especific electrode. Orion 720A. RESULTS: The average concentration of fluoride in urine from preschool children with and without malnutrition were 0.89 +/- 0.4 mg/L and 0.80 +/- 0.3 mg/L, respectively. The mean of 24 hours total fluoride excreted were 367 +/- 150 microg/24 hrs. in malnutrition children and 355 +/- 169 microg/24 hrs. for those with standard nutritional status. There were no differences statistically significant between groups. CONCLUSION: The urinary fluoride excretion for children with and without malnutrition were in the optimal range of fluoridation for the prevention of caries decay. Malnutrition was no associated with changes on fluoride orine concentration and excretion rates.