Fluoride

Abstract

A ten-year longitudinal prospective study compared the effect of fluoride on dentition of 1,500 children from infancy through age 10 years. In Kalamazoo, Mich, and Oneida, NY, parallel groups were given a fluoride-vitamin supplement from infancy and from age 4 and compared with fluoridated water and control groups. Incidence of new caries activity in both deciduous and permanent teeth was measured by mean number of new decayed and filled teeth, as well as percentage of children with no caries throughout the periods studied. Prevalence of caries was also studied in six-year molars. The results indicate a consistent (and, for selected groups, a statistically significant) diminution in caries activity for both deciduous and permanent teeth for groups ranked from greatest retardation of caries to least: infant fluoride group, water fluoride group, age 4 fluoride group, and controls.