ABSTRACT
Dental treatment is a highly sought-after but costly procedure in the world, so it is important to consider measures to prevent dental disease. Among the ways of prevention, drinking water fluoridation, which involves adding relevant amounts of fluoride to the water supply reaching communities, stands out. However, it is not clear whether there are enough researchers who have addressed the issue, or that their methodology has been adequate to provide alternatives to solve some conditions, such as dental fluorosis, which, in contrast, is manifested by excessive fluoride intake. The main objective was to explore and analyse the academic production on the concentration of fluoride present in drinking water in order to find a relationship with dental fluorosis in children. To this end, the PRISMA model was used as a starting point in order to carry out a systematic review of academic articles chosen according to selection criteria. These will be extracted from five databases, using a documentary-type methodology, whose data collection will be carried out in virtual environments. From this, it was concluded that the academic production includes the concentration of fluoride in drinking water as a means of prevention for dental pathologies; however, the levels of fluoride allowed in children should be known, as the excess of fluoride in the teeth causes dental fluorosis, which turns out to be the cause of psychological complexes in children due to an aesthetic issue.
El tratamiento dental es un procedimiento muy solicitado en el mundo, pero costoso de realizar; por lo que, es importante considerar medidas para prevenir enfermedades dentarias. Entre las formas de prevención, destaca la fluoración del agua potable, que implica añadir cantidades pertinentes de flúor al suministro de agua que llega a las comunidades. Sin embargo, no se precisa si existen suficientes investigadores que hayan abordado el tema, o que su metodología empleada haya sido la adecuada como para brindar alternativas para solucionar algunas afecciones, tales como la fluorosis dental que; en contraste, se manifiesta por la excesiva ingesta de flúor. El objetivo principal, realizar una exploración y análisis de la producción académica sobre la concentración de flúor presente en el agua potable con el fin de encontrar una relación con la fluorosis dental en niños. Para ello, se partió del modelo PRISMA con el fin de proceder una revisión sistemática de artículos académicos escogidos mediante criterios de selección. Estos serán extraídos de cinco bases de datos, valiéndose entonces, de una metodología de tipo documental, cuya recolección de datos se efectuará en entornos virtuales. A partir de ello, se concluyó que la producción académica incluye a la concentración del flúor en agua potable como un modo de prevención para patologías dentales; no obstante, se debe conocer los niveles de flúor permitido en los niños, pues el exceso de flúor en los dientes origina fluorosis dental, la cual resulta ser causante de complejos psicológicos en los niños debido a un tema estético.
Subject(s)
Fluorosis, Dental , Tooth Diseases , Drinking Water , Halogenation , FluoridesABSTRACT
ABSTRACT The origin and dispersion of the first Americans have been extensively investigated from morphological and genetic perspectives, but few studies have focused on their health and lifestyle. The archaeological site of Lapa do Santo, central-eastern Brazil, has exceptionally preserved Early Holocene human skeletons, providing 19 individuals with 327 permanent and 122 deciduous teeth dated to 9,250 to 7,500 years BP. In this study, we test whether the inhabitants of Lapa do Santo had high prevalence of dental caries as previous studies of Lagoa Santa collection have indicated, using individual and tooth as units of analyses. The results show a high prevalence of dental caries in the permanent dentition (5.50%, n=327 teeth; 69.23%, n=13 individuals) compared to other samples of hunter-gatherers worldwide. In addition, dental caries in deciduous teeth start occurring as early as 3 to 4 years old, suggesting an early start to caries. Compared with other samples from Lagoa Santa, Lapa do Santo shows statistically similar prevalence of overall caries but different caries location pattern. We believe that a subsistence adaptation to a tropical environment rich in sources of carbohydrates, such as fruits, is the best explanation for the overall caries prevalence.