Prevalence of dental hard tissue diseases among children in areas with various fluoride concentrations in houshold and drinking water

Objective: To assess the prevalence of dental caries and fluorosis in children living in regions with different levels of fluoride in drinking water.
Materials and methods: A dental examination was conducted on 12-year-old children (n = 261) living in the Tursunzade, Gissar and Shahrinav districts. Of these, 119 (45.6%) were boys and 142 (54.4%) were girls. Drinking water samples (three measurements per district) were collected from the aforementioned districts and analysed. Clinical, laboratory and statistical methods were employed.
Results: Analysis of the drinking water samples revealed fluoride concentrations of 0.93 mg/L in Shirkent and 0.78 mg/L in Karatag, which are within the recommended standard range. However, in the Tuda settlement, the fluoride concentration was 1.98 mg/L, which is approximately 1.65 times higher than the maximum permissible level. The prevalence of dental caries was ‘high’ in the Tursunzade and Shahrinav districts and ‘moderate’ in the Gissar district. The prevalence of dental fluorosis was 6.2%, 10.5% and 42.5% in the Shahrinav, Tursunzade and Gissar districts, respectively.
Conclusion: The fluoride concentration in the water in the Tursunzade district, which is located within the aluminium production zone, was within normal limits. This suggests that the environmental policies implemented by TALCO company help protect the health of nearby populations. Our study established a direct association between elevated fluoride levels in drinking water and an increased prevalence of dental fluorosis. It also revealed a negative correlation between fluoride concentration and caries incidence among the children examined. However, Gissar district, despite being over 30 kilometres from the nearest aluminium production source, showed a high prevalence of fluorosis. This suggests that industrial emissions are unlikely to be the sole cause of this condition in the region.

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