Abstract
Objectives
The water fluoridation program has been implemented since 2008, in a region of Geoje City. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the water fluoridation program on caries prevention in the permanent dentition.
Methods
Evaluation surveys were conducted on 8-, 10- and 12-year-old children in the fluoridated and non-fluoridated regions of Geoje City, in 2015. The survey included 834 children from the fluoridated regions and 703 from the non-fluoridated regions. The data obtained from the survey were analyzed using the IBM SPSS statistical package version 23.0. The effectiveness of community water fluoridation in caries prevention was estimated by the differences in the decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) and decayed, missing, filled surfaces (DMFS) scores, between the program and control groups. The mean numbers of fissure-sealed teeth and surfaces were adjusted to reduce their confounding effect.
Results
The mean DMFT and DMFS scores (0.69 and 0.91, respectively) of 10-year-olds from the fluoridated regions, after adjusting for the numbers of fissure-sealed teeth and surfaces, were significantly lower than those of the 10 year olds (DMFT: 0.95, DMFS: 1.32) from the non-fluoridated regions. The effectiveness of water fluoridation on caries prevention in the permanent dentition, estimated based on the differences in the mean DMFT and DMFS scores, adjusted for the number of fissure-sealed teeth and surfaces, between the program and control groups of 10-year-old children, was 27.4% and 31.1%, respectively.
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Table 1.
Age |
Control* |
Program |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
N† | % | N† | % | |
Total | 703 | 100.0 | 834 | 100.0 |
8 | 218 | 31.0 | 259 | 31.1 |
10 | 212 | 30.2 | 240 | 28.8 |
12 | 273 | 38.8 | 335 | 40.2 |
Table 2.
Age | Gender |
Control* |
Program |
P‡ | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N† | % | N† | % | |||
8 | Male | 118 | 54.1 | 121 | 46.7 | 0.118 |
Female | 100 | 45.9 | 138 | 53.3 | ||
10 | Male | 112 | 52.8 | 138 | 57.5 | 0.344 |
Female | 100 | 47.2 | 102 | 42.5 | ||
12 | Male | 156 | 57.1 | 171 | 51.0 | 0.142 |
Female | 117 | 42.9 | 164 | 49.0 |
Table 3.
Variables | Age (yr) |
Control* |
Program |
P§ | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N† | Mean | SE‡ | N† | Mean | SE‡ | |||
Fissure-sealed teeth | 8 | 218 | 0.77 | 0.08 | 259 | 0.87 | 0.08 | 0.348 |
10 | 212 | 0.89 | 0.09 | 240 | 0.83 | 0.08 | 0.616 | |
12 | 273 | 0.71 | 0.08 | 335 | 1.07 | 0.10 | 0.004 | |
Fissure-sealed surfaces | 8 | 218 | 0.92 | 0.10 | 259 | 1.11 | 0.11 | 0.207 |
10 | 212 | 1.10 | 0.12 | 240 | 1.00 | 0.11 | 0.517 | |
12 | 273 | 0.83 | 0.10 | 335 | 1.24 | 0.11 | 0.006 |
Table 4.
Age |
Control* |
Program |
P‡ | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
N† | % | N† | % | ||
8 | 218 | 21.1 | 259 | 22.8 | 0.739 |
10 | 212 | 40.1 | 240 | 30.4 | 0.038 |
12 | 273 | 54.9 | 335 | 49.3 | 0.166 |
Table 5.
Age |
Control* |
Program |
P∥ |
Control* |
Program |
P** | Prevention fraction (%)*** | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N† | Mean‡ | SE§ | N† | Mean‡ | SE§ | Mean¶ (A) | SE§ | Mean¶ (B) | SE§ | ||||
8 | 218 | 0.40 | 0.06 | 259 | 0.43 | 0.06 | 0.722 | 0.39 | 0.06 | 0.43 | 0.06 | 0.625 | - |
10 | 212 | 0.94 | 0.09 | 240 | 0.70 | 0.08 | 0.048 | 0.95 | 0.09 | 0.69 | 0.08 | 0.032 | 27.4 |
12 | 273 | 1.62 | 0.12 | 335 | 1.49 | 0.12 | 0.458 | 1.57 | 0.12 | 1.53 | 0.11 | 0.809 | 2.5 |
Table 6.
Age |
Control* |
Program |
P∥ |
Control* |
Program |
P** | Prevention fraction (%)*** | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N† | Mean‡ | SE§ | N† | Mean‡ | SE§ | Mean¶ (A) | SE§ | Mean¶ (B) | SE§ | ||||
8 | 218 | 0.60 | 0.11 | 259 | 0.60 | 0.09 | 0.988 | 0.59a | 0.10 | 0.61a | 0.09 | 0.871 | - |
10 | 212 | 1.31 | 0.14 | 240 | 0.92 | 0.11 | 0.030 | 1.32b | 0.13 | 0.91b | 0.12 | 0.019 | 31.1 |
12 | 273 | 2.14 | 0.17 | 335 | 1.98 | 0.17 | 0.494 | 2.08c | 0.18 | 2.03c | 0.16 | 0.825 | 2.4 |