Monitoring results of dental fluorosis in children in drinking water-borne endemic fluorosis areas in Shandong Province from 2018 to 2020 / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To dynamically monitor the prevalence and trend of dental fluorosis in children in Shandong Province, and to evaluate the prevention and control measures for drinking water-borne endemic fluorosis (referred to as drinking water-borne fluorosis), and to provide scientific basis for the next step.Methods:Totally 40 counties (cities, districts) were selected as project counties (cities, districts) from drinking water-borne fluorosis areas in Shandong Province in 2018, and all counties (cities, districts) were selected in 2019 and 2020, to investigate the situation of water improvement, detect water fluoride content, and investigate the prevalence of dental fluorosis in children aged 8 - 12 years.Results:From 2018 to 2020, the detection rates of dental fluorosis in children aged 8 - 12 years were 10.30% (503/4 884), 8.94% (25 895/289 539) and 8.66% (24 061/277 689), respectively, with statistically significant differences (χ 2 = 27.10, P < 0.001), and the dental fluorosis indexes were 0.21, 0.18 and 0.17, respectively. The total detection rates of dental fluorosis in children of different age groups in the 3 years were 7.26% (6 590/90 775), 7.97% (9 303/116 680), 9.29% (12 167/130 915), 9.29% (12 238/131 670) and 9.95% (10 161/102 072), the differences were statistically significant (χ 2 = 615.71, P < 0.001). In the 3 years, the total detection rate of dental fluorosis was 8.93% (28 101/314 737) in boys and 8.69% (22 358/257 375) in girls, the difference was statistically significant (χ 2 = 10.27, P = 0.001). In 2018 and 2019, the detection rates of dental fluorosis of children aged 8 - 12 years in water fluoride qualified villages [5.74% (235/4 095) and 7.98% (20 200/253 082)] were significantly lower than those in villages with excessive water fluoride [33.97% (268/789) and 15.62% (5 695/36 457), χ 2 = 570.61, 2 283.76, P < 0.001]. Conclusions:The prevalence of dental fluorosis among children aged 8 - 12 years has been effectively controlled, and remarkable results have been achieved in prevention and treatment of drinking water-borne fluorosis in Shandong Province. However, the detection rate of dental fluorosis among children in a few endemic villages is high, so it is necessary to continue to strengthen the monitoring of fluoride content in drinking water and the condition of dental fluorosis among children.