PREVALENCE OF DENTAL FLUOROSIS: A CASE STUDY OF THE GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHHOOL, OGBIA, BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA.

Background: The prevalence of dental fluorosis in certain parts of the globe has been found to be increasing. In contrast to these prevalence reports in these areas, there is little or no systematic epidemiological study evaluating dental fluorosis in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. We thus studied the prevalence of dental fluorosis among school children in Ogbia town, Ogbia local government of Bayelsa state, Nigeria and evaluated the role played by potential risk factors. Method: A cross-sectional survey of 242 school children (106 males, 136 females) within the age group of 10 – 17 years using a multistage random sampling technique was done. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to assess exposure to various fluoride sources. Dental professionals examined all the children to determine the absence or presence of dental fluorosis, with the Dean’s Index used for grading of the degrees of dental fluorosis. Bivariate associations were tested using Chi-squared tests and linear logistic regressions were used to determine the association between selected risk factors and the occurrence of dental fluorosis. Result: The mouth prevalence of dental fluorosis among our study sample was 19% and the Community Fluorosis Index was 0.57. The principal factor associated with the presence of dental fluorosis was sachet water (OR: 2.00, 95% CI: 0.97 – 4.09, p = 0.04). No significant association was found between dental fluorosis and the consumption of sea fish, the use of fluoride supplements and the use of fluoride toothpaste. Conclusion: Dental fluorosis is thus, not a public health problem in Ogbia town, Bayelsa state although, sachet water is a risk factor associated with the occurrence of dental fluorosis. Measures should thus be taken to review the fluoride content of sachet water produced in the area of this study. Also, similar in-depth studies using similar criteria for assessing dental fluorosis prevalence needs to be carried out in other parts of Bayelsa state and Nigeria as a whole