Prevalence and self perception of Dental Fluorosis among 15 year old school children in Prakasham district of south India.

Background: To assess the Prevalence and self perception of dental fluorosis among 15 - year old school children.

Materials & Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 840, 15 - year old school children from 12 schools of Prakasam district. After taking informed consent from their parents or legal representatives, an interview was conducted using a pretested questionnaire to collect the data regarding self perception of dental fluorosis, dental behaviour, and source of water and diet and socio demographic characters. Oral examination was done under natural light to score Deans fluorosis index. Statistical test used was chisquare test.

Results: Study revealed that 82.04% of the study population were having dental fluorosis. Out of which only 42.3% were aware of the existing situations. 47.90% of boys are aware of dental fluorosis where as 40.50% of girls are aware of dental fluorosis. Fluorosis score in relation to gender is not statistically significant (chisquare (8.796);p=0.117).

Conclusion: Dental fluorosis is a public health problem in Kanigiri town. As there was no study conducted in Kanigiri town even though it is one of the severely affected area in our country. Active steps must be taken to De fluoridate the water before distribution to reduce the morbidity associated with dental fluorosis in this area. How to cite this article: Naidu GM, Rahamthullah SA, Kopuri RK, Kumar YA, Suman SV, Balaga RN. Prevalence and self perception of Dental Fluorosis among 15 year old school children in Prakasham district of south India. J Int Oral Health 2013; 5(6):67-71.