Caries-preventing effects of a suburban community water fluoridation program on permanent dentition after adjusting for the number of fissure-sealed teeth / 대한구강보건학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of suburban community water fluoridation programs on preventing caries in permanent teeth. METHODS: In 2012, surveys were administered to children aged 8, 12, and 15 years residing in fluoridated Habcheon township area. Samples collected during the national survey in 2012 from children of the same age residing in non-fluoridated township areas were used as the control, and the caries prevalence data from this sample were used to estimate the caries preventive effect in the studied regions. This study included 457 subjects from the Habcheon township area and 1,792 in the control group. The data obtained from the survey were analyzed using the IBM SPSS statistical package version 21.0. The caries preventive effect exerted by fluoride in the community water supply was determined by calculating the differences in the DMFT and DMFS indices between the study and control groups. The cofounders of the mean number of fissure-sealed teeth and surfaces were controlled to estimate the effectiveness of caries prevention. RESULTS: The odds ratio of subjects with no dental caries in the fluoridated region was 0.75 compared to that in the control group. The mean DMFT scores or DMFS scores adjusted for the number of fissuresealed teeth or tooth surfaces were lower than those in the control group. The caries prevention fraction was estimated to be 23.4% based on the difference in the adjusted mean DMFT scores between the control and study groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that fluoridation of the community water in the suburban area was highly effective in preventing dental caries in permanent teeth, and therefore, this community water fluoridation program should be implemented in other regions in Korea.