Abstract
Background:
Although community water fluoridtion (CWF) results in a range of potential contaminant exposures, little attention has been given to many of the possible impacts. A central argument for CWF is its cost-effectiveness. The U.S. Government states that $1 spent on CWF saves $38 in dental treatment costs.
Objective:
To examine the reported cost-effectiveness of CWF.
Methods:
Methods and underlying data from the primary U.S. economic evaluation of CWF are analyzed and corrected calculations are described. Other recent economic evaluations are also examined.
Results:
Recent economic evaluations of CWF contain defective estimations of both costs and benefits. Incorrect handling of dental treatment costs and flawed estimates of effectiveness lead to overestimated benefits. The real-world costs to water treatment plants and communities are not reflected.
Conclusions:
Minimal correction reduced the savings to $3 per person per year (PPPY) for a best-case scenario, but this savings is eliminated by the estimated cost of treating dental fluorosis.
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Impact of dental fluorosis, socioeconomic status and self-perception in adolescents exposed to a high level of fluoride in water
Objective: To identify adolescents' self-perception of dental fluorosis from two areas with different socioeconomic levels. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted with 15-year-old youths by applying a questionnaire designed and validated to assess self-perceptions of dental fluorosis in two areas with different socioeconomic statuses (SESs). Fluorosis was clinically evaluated by
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Effect of power bleaching on the fluorosis stained anterior teeth case series
Bleaching is a conservative method for restoring the colour of intrinsic discoloration of teeth. The combination of McInnes solution and power bleaching is effective procedure for bleaching of fluorosis stained teeth. Definitely bleaching with McInnes bleaching agent gives instant results, not dependent on patient's compliance as other office based procedures,
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Dental and early-stage skeletal fluorosis in children induced by fluoride in brick-tea.
Fluorosis from brick-tea was discovered during the last decade in western and northern parts of China. Dental fluorosis has a high prevalence among children in these brick-tea endemic areas, but skeletal fluorosis does not normally become apparent until adulthood. In July 2002 we examined 132 primary school children, age 8
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The use of urinary fluoride excretion to facilitate monitoring fluoride intake: A systematic scoping review.
BACKGROUND: As a recognised effective and economical agent for dental caries prevention, fluoride has been used in many different fluoridation schemes implemented across the world. Considering the narrow ‘dose-gap’ between the benefit of caries reduction and the risk of dental fluorosis, it is recommended that fluoride intake is monitored by
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Risk of fluorosis associated with infant formulas prepared with bottled water.
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