This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Parviainen, K. Articles by Nordling, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Parviainen, K. Articles by Nordling, H. Pubmed/NCBI databases Compound via MeSH Substance via MeSH Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Changes in Oral Health from 1973 to 1982 of 13-15-year-old Schoolchildren Residing in Three Different Fluoride Areas in Finland

School of Dentistry, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322

J. Ainamo

Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Mannerheimintie 172, SF-00280 Helsinki, Finland

H. Nordling

National Board of Health, Siltasaarenkatu 18, SF-00530 Helsinki, Finland

The aim of the present study was to analyze the change from 1973 to 1982 in the oral health conditions of 13-, 14-, and 15-year-old schoolchildren residing in three different fluoride areas in Finland. Oral hygiene, as measured with the Visible Plaque Index (Ainamo and Bay, 1975), had improved significantly both among 13-year-old girls (P<0.01) and among boys of the same age (P<0.05). A highly significant improvement (P<0.001) of gingival health, as measured with the Gingival Bleeding Index (Ainamo and Bay, 1975), was observed for boys but not for girls. The striking change was for the DFST (T= total) and FSA_A (A = approximal) scores for the totals of 180 girls and 180 boys. This improvement in dental health was mainly due to a dramatic decline of caries in the low-fluoride (0.2 ppm F) area, whereas in the high-fluoride area (2.5 ppm F), the improvement in oral hygiene and gingival health was the greatest. The results support earlier assumptions that caries and gingivitis are separate and mutually independent disease entities. The study further suggests that local fluoride treatments can provide caries-preventive benefits similar to those achieved by community water fluoridation, although at greater cost. The comparison in time revealed that most of the differences in oral health, observed in 1973 both between sexes and between the different fluoride areas, had disappeared by the time of the 1982 examination.

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 64, No. 10, 1253-1256 (1985)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345850640101501


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. W Hausen Fluoridation, fractures, and teeth BMJ, October 7, 2000; 321(7265): 844 - 845. [Full Text]