title: Fluoridation and dental caries severity in young children treated under general anaesthesia: an analysis of treatment records in a 10-year case series.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the severity of dental caries in the primary dentitions of children under 7 years (who received comprehensive restorative treatment under general anaesthesia, GA) from an optimally fluoridated area (0.85 ppmF) and a low-fluoride area (approximately 0.1 ppmF).
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive clinical case series: clinical details (diagnoses and the treatments provided) were recorded for children who had received comprehensive dental care under GA between 2000 and 2009. Age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status and fluoridation status (determined from the residential address) were also recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1396 treated children, 55.7% came from fluoridated areas and 52.5% were male. On average, children from low-fluoride areas were 2.4 months younger and presented with more decayed deciduous teeth than those from fluoridated areas (4.9 and 3.9 teeth respectively; p<0.0001). For each tooth type, the mean number of carious teeth at presentation was greater among the children from low-fluoride areas. In the multivariate model, the number of deciduous teeth affected by caries was lower among older children, those residing in a fluoridated area and among those seen after 2001. It was higher among those not living in high-SES areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with severe dental caries had statistically significantly lower numbers of lesions if they lived in a fluoridated area. The lower treatment need in such high-risk children has important implications for publicly-funded dental care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Sciences, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, School of Dentistry, The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kamel
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Drummond
mesh_terms: D000766:Anesthesia, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019230:Dental Audit; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D005260:Female; D005457:Fluoridation; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous