THE PREVALENCE AND INTENSITY OF FLUOROSIS AND DMFT AMONG 7-14 YEAR OLD SCHOOL CHILDREN IN VILLAGES OF MAKU IN WEST AZERBAIJAN

The present study aims to investigate the prevalence and severity of fluorosis
and decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) in students aged 7-14 in villages of Maku.
Materials & Methods: The present research was carried out on 240 school children that were divided
into two groups according to clustering random sampling. Group one included villages with average
fluoride concentration of drinking water of 7mg/l, and group two included villages with average
fluoride concentration of drinking water 0.45 mg/l. Then, Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney tests
were applied.
Results: It was revealed that the percentage of fluorosis in groups 1 and 2 were 3.7 and 0.046,
respectively. There was statistically significant relation between fluorosis and fluoride concentration
of drinking water. According to Deans criteria, high percentage of students in group 1 had dental
fluorosis (grades 2 to 5) (p<0.001), while the second group had healthy teeth. The mean DMFT score
in group 1 was D= 0.95, M=0.025 and F=0.01; and in group 2 was D=0.4, M=0.025 and F= 0.
Conclusion: It is deduced that high prevalence of dental fluorosis is connected with high concentration
of fluoride drinking water and it is suggested to control its level to eliminate the excessive fluoride
from drinking water