Dental fluorosis and the use of a high fluoride‐containing trona tenderizer (magadi)

Abstract

Please be advised that this information was generated on 2018-05-10 and may be subject to change.Mabelya L, van Palenstein Helderman WH, van't Hof MA, Konig KG: Dental fluorosis and the use of a high fluoride-containing trona tenderizer (magadi), Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 1997; 25: 170-6. © Munksgaard, 1997 Abstract -It has recently been suggested that magadi, a high-fluoride trona, which is added in cooking to tenderize certain vegetables and beans in two villages in Tanzania, significantly contributed to the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis. This report aims to substantiate the significance of magadi as a determin ant of dental fluorosis. Eighteen villages in four geographical areas (districts) with water supplies containing 0.2 to 0,8 mg/L of fluoride were selected. All schoolchildren aged 12 to 17 years (n= 1566) who had been born and raised in these villages were examined for dental fluorosis according to the ThylstrupFejerskov Index. Dietary history was recorded. The fluoride content of magadi samples was determined and the urinary fluoride excretion of pre-schoolchildren was assessed. The prevalence of dental fluorosis in nine coastal villages where tea and seafish were regularly consumed ranged from 7% to 46%. Severe (pitting) dental fluorosis was rarely seen. The low fluorosis levels observed in non-magadi consuming communities in coastal villages indicate that a fluoride content of up to 0.8 mg/L in drinking water is acceptable under the prevailing conditions of temperature and diet. In contrast, the prevalence of dental fluorosis in nine villages located inland at 1500 m altitude, where fluoride-containing magadi was con sumed, ranged from 53% to 100%, and severe (pitting) fluorosis was highly prevalent, ranging from 18% to 97%. The village with the highest fluoride content in the magadi samples collected showed the highest level of fluorosis. The uri nary fluoride excretion of pre-schoolchildren from different villages corresponded with the level of fluorosis and the fluoride content in the magadi samples of the respective villages. Data on dental fluorosis from the magadi-consuming commu nities provide strong evidence that consumption of magadi was the major deter minant of the observed high prevalence and severity of fluorosis in inland villages at 1500 m altitude.

Two types of intraoral distribution of fluorotic enamel

“…The investigated villages had drinking water with a low F content ( Table 1). The people in low fluorosis villages in the coastal districts drink a lot of tea and eat a lot of seafish (12,13), whereas those in moderate fluorosis villages in the Singida district con sume fluoride-containing magadi salt (Table 1). Children in these communi ties are not likely to ingest much fluoride in the first year of life.…”

“…Table 1 pre sents the sample size and some relevant characteristics of these districts (13). The method of selecting 18 villages in these districts is described in detail in a separate article (13).…”

“…Table 1 pre sents the sample size and some relevant characteristics of these districts (13). The method of selecting 18 villages in these districts is described in detail in a separate article (13). All children aged 12-17 years (/?= 1566) attending primary school who had been born and raised in the re spective villages were examined for den tal fluorosis.…”

“…Three reports based on findings from that survey have been published. One contained a com parison of two fluorosis indices ( 11) and the other two presented findings on the prevalence and severity o f dental fluo rosis in relation to fluoride exposure (12,13). This report contains findings on the intraoral distribution of signs of fluorosis in areas with different degrees of fluorosis and in addition it gives a 252 v a n P a len stein H e l d e r m a n et a l .…”

Use of filtrate from crop residue ash for cooking in rural households in Northern Uganda.

“…In addition to high sodium, elevated levels of iron, fluoride, and manganese have been found (Ankrah & Dovlo 1978;Nielsen & Dahi 2002;Mamiro et al 2011). High fluoride exposure from use of ground salt has been linked to severe dental fluorosis (pitting of teeth) in Tanzania (Mabelya, van Palenstein Helderman, van't Hof, & Konig, 1997), while excess iron exposure can contribute to iron overload (Gordeuk et al 1992).…”