OBJECTIVES In view of concerns expressed by South African local authorities the aim of this study was to develop a model to determine whether water fluoridation is economically viable to reduce dental caries in South Africa. METHODS Microsoft Excel software was used to develop a model to determine economic viability of water fluoridation for 17 water providers from all nine South African prov...

The overall reduction in caries prevalence and severity in the United States over recent decades is largely due to widespread exposure to fluoride, most notably from the fluoridation of drinking waters. Despite this overall reduction, however, caries distribution today remains skewed, with the poor and deprived carrying a disproportionate share of the disease burden. Dental caries, like many ot...

AIM This study aims to estimate the cost-effectiveness from a societal perspective of seven dental caries prevention programmes among schoolchildren in Chile: three community-based programmes: water-fluoridation, salt-fluoridation and dental sealants; and four school-based programmes: milk-fluoridation; fluoridated mouthrinses (FMR); APF-Gel, and supervised toothbrushing with fluoride toothpast...

This paper encompasses information on the status of community and school water fluoridation in the U.S. and abroad, the status and action on State fluoridation .laws, an explanation and effect of the Safe Drinking Water Act, dental benefits, and identification and refutation of the three most common areas of allegations against fluoridation. Grand Rapids that same year to demonstrate that the d...

OBJECTIVES Water fluoridation is one of the most effective public health programs of the past century. However, efforts to extend water fluoridation into currently non-fluoridated areas are often thwarted. Despite considerable evidence regarding the effectiveness of water fluoridation at an individual level, published national community-based studies are rare. This study compared children's dec...

OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of water fluoridation, both artificial and natural, on dental decay, after socioeconomic deprivation was controlled for. DESIGN Ecological study based on results from the NHS dental surveys in 5 year olds in 1991-2 and 1993-4 and Jarman underprivileged area scores from the 1991 census. SETTING Electoral wards in three areas: Hartlepool (naturally fluoridated)...

L ong before the passionate debates over cigarettes, DDT, asbestos or the ozone hole, most Americans had heard of only one environmental health controversy: fluoridation. Starting in the 1950s, hundreds of communities across the U.S. became embroiled in heated battles over whether fluorides—ionic compounds containing the element fluorine—should be added to their water systems. On one side was a...

OBJECTIVE There is much controversy over the fluoridation of community water supplies. This study surveyed the informational content of internet sites on the World Wide Web (WWW) regarding water fluoridation. METHODS One hundred websites were identified and 59 were evaluated with a 6 point scoring system using predetermined criteria. RESULTS Of these 59 sites, 54% recommend water fluoridati...

Some have hypothesized that community water containing sodium silicofluoride and hydrofluosilicic acid may increase blood lead (PbB) concentrations in children by leaching of lead from water conduits and by increasing absorption of lead from water. Our analysis aimed to evaluate the relation between water fluoridation method and PbB concentrations in children. We used PbB concentration data (n=...