Ten years of fluoridation in Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

The caries experience of children aged six, eight, and ten years, examined in Perth after ten years of fluoridation was less than half that of children examined before fluoridation. In a concurrent survey, the caries experience of children examined in two unfluoridated towns was double that of the Perth children.

Associations Between Exposure to Fluoridated Drinking Water and Dental Caries Experience among Children in Two Australian States

“…However, since those variables were used to control far confounding effects, the criterion for assessing each model centered on the parameter estimate and statistical significance of exposure to fluoride in water. Consequently, the principal finding from the five models in Table 3 was that exposure to fluoride in South Australia (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) Years) Queensland (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) 'Assuming unknown residential years at 0 pprn F. +Assuming unknown residential years at 1 ppm F.…”

“…Scientific support for fluoridation of public water supplies came from ob-servational and intervention studies of North American children and from Australian studies conducted to monitor the effects of water fluoridation among children in the states of New South Wales (lo), Queensland (111, and Western Australia (12). The Australian studies demonstrated sharp reductions in caries prevalence in cohorts of schoolchildren born after fluoridation.…”

Report of Working Party on Fluorides in the Control of Dental Caries (As adopted at 100th Session, November 1985)

“…In Australia there have been four investigations of the effect of dental caries of children living in areas with fluoridated water; these were Canberra (Carr 1976), Townsville (Videroni et al 1976), Perth (Medcalf 1978), Tamworth (Barnard 1980). Other than Townsville these were longitudinal studies; in the Townsville project caries experience of Townsville children was compared with that of children in 16 low-fluoride towns in Queensland.…”

Dental Caries and Fluoride Exposure in Western Australia

“…In 1967 (before water fluoridation in Perth), ten-year-old children in WA had 4.8 DMFT (Medcalf, 1970). In 1977, ten-year-olds in metropolitan Perth had 1.9 DMFT, and in the Bunbury region, 3.9 DMFT; 10.0% of Perth but no Bunbury ten-year-olds were free of caries (Medcalf, 1978). In 1987, 15-year-olds in Perth had 4.0 DFS, and in Bunbury, 4.4 DFS; caries prevalences were 0.80 and 0.82, respectively (Stockwell et al, 1990).…”