Newburgh-Kingston caries-fluorine study. XIV. Combined clinical and roentgenographic dental findings after ten years of fluoride experience.

Among the important questions which have to be answered when a new public health practice is considered are ( 1) the need for this new practice, ( 2) its safety, ( 3) its practicability and ( 4) its effectiveness. The literature during the past two decades has reported numerous surveys which have demonstrated the magnitude of dental caries prevalence and the yearly incidence rates.1 The inadequate means which are available to cope with this problem have also been reported.2 The previous authors have discussed the practicability and safety of community water fluoridation as a prophylactic program for the partial control of new dental carious lesions. I shall try to demonstrate the degree to which a community water fluoridation program has contributed to the control of this disease. Between June 1944· and February 1.94·6, clinical dental examinations were made for all of the elementary grade school children aged 6 to 12 in both the public and parochial schools in Newburgh and Kingston, N. Y. All the examinations at that time were made by one staff dentist using the classic mouth mirror and explorer technic. The recording was made according to an established classification which provided for cariesfree teeth, untreated caries, filled, missing and unerupted teeth. Each tooth on the chart had some notation to indicate its status (Fig. 1).