Prevalence of dental fluorosis among 4- to 14-year-old children from the town of Dimitrovgrad (Bulgaria).
BACKGROUND
There has been no study on the prevalence of dental fluorosis in Bulgaria of today where people have free access to some fluoride-containing products.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of dental fluorosis among children 4 to 14 years old from the town of Dimitrovgrad, where due to unsatisfactory qualities of tap water people consume bottled water including such with fluoride levels higher than 1.5 mg/l.


METHODS
The study included 1504 randomly selected children. We analysed subjects with dental fluorosis according to Dean's modified criteria. The following severity levels were defined: 0 - normal; 0.5 - suspicious; 1 - very mild; 2 - mild; 3 - moderate; 4 - severe. Data were analyzed separately for the different types of dentitions.


RESULTS
Results showed that 54.52% of all children included in the study had dental fluorosis in different degrees. Primary teeth were affected by dental fluorosis less frequently than permanent teeth (P < 0.001). In mixed dentition cases 41.41% of the children had fluorosis of permanent teeth only, 1.64% had dental fluorosis of primary teeth only and 12.50% had both their primary and permanent teeth affected. The proportion of individuals with the lowest degree of severity - 0.5, was the greatest both for the primary and permanent teeth. Comparison with the proportions of children with more severe degrees of fluorosis revealed significant differences (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study showed excessive fluoride intake during tooth development and suggested a need for further research of risk factors.
Kukleva
Maria P
MP
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University, Plovdiv 15A Vassil Aprilov St, 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Isheva
Alexandra V
AV
Kondeva
Veselina K
VK
Dimitrova
Mariana M
MM
Petrova
Svetla G
SG
D000293:Adolescent; D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005459:Fluorides / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009050:Fluorosis, Dental / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis
D005459:Fluorides