Prevalence of dental caries and dental fluorosis among 6-12 years old school children in relation to fluoride concentration in an endemic fluoride belt of Mahabubnagar district, Telangana state, India.

Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the prevalence of dental caries and dental fluorosis among the school going children in Mahabubnagar district, and also to assess F- levels in drinking water from different areas of Mahabubnagar district. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in 2,000 children of age group 6–12 years. The dental caries status was assessed by Decayed/missed filled tooth (DMFT)/deft index using WHO criteria 1997 and dental fluorosis status using Modified Dean's fluorosis index. Alizarin visual method was used to estimate F levels in water. Statistical Analysis: All data entered to an SPSS (18) program (IBM Corporation, Chicago, USA); both descriptive and analytic approaches were used in the data analysis. The correlation of deft with different F- levels using ANOVA test. The P < 0.005 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth and permanent dentition was 64.2% and 26.6%, respectively. Indicating that dental caries was more among 7–8 years old children and less in 11–12 years old children (P > 0.005). Dental fluorosis in primary dentition was 15% and 70.3% in the permanent dentition; it was more in 9–10-year-old children and less in 6-year-old children. Conclusion: The dental caries and dental fluorosis were more in Northern, Eastern region of Mahabubnagar district, whereas dental caries and dental fluorosis were less in local villages of Mahabubnagar district. The F- content in Northern, Eastern zone of Mahabubnagar district was about 2 mg/l, whereas in local villages of Mahabubnagar is 1.2 mg/l. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]