Prevalence and risk factors of dental fluorosis among children aged 8-12 years in Shandong province of China.

ABSTRACT

This study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of children's dental fluorosis (DF) in Shandong and identified the potential risk factors for DF. A total of 87 villages in Shandong were investigated to calculate the prevalence of DF and Community Fluorosis Index (CFI) in 2018-2019. Six hundred and seventy children were enrolled to identify the potential risk factors using univariate and multivariate logistic regressions. Goodman-Kruskal Gamma was used to explore the factors related to the severity of DF. In 87 villages, 1249 of 8700 (14.36%) children still have DF. The prevalence of DF in most villages was below 40% in 2018-2019. Water fluorine concentration when selected for the study and urinary fluorine concentration were related to the risk of DF (P < 0.001). Some eating habits, like lower frequency of eating fresh vegetables, eggs, and beans, were associated with the risk of DF (P < 0.001). The high water fluorine concentration, and lower frequency of eating fresh vegetables, eggs, and beans were also related to the severity of DF (P < 0.001). DF in children in Shandong province is still a common endemic disease. This study tries to provide a useful guide for the prevention and control of DF.