Determining the Rate of Decay, Missing or Filled Teeth in Students Aged 7 to 11 Years in Shiraz and its Association with Amount of Fluoride in Drinking Water

One of the goals of the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Dental Federation (WDF) is declining the decay، missing or filled teeth (DMFT) index in people under 12 years down to the level of 1. The present study aimed to determine the DMFT index in 7 to 11-year-old students and its association with the amount of fluoride in drinking water in Shiraz، Iran. This was a cross-sectional، descriptive study. It has been performed over 760 students in order to measuring the DMFT index in the four educational districts of Shiraz in 2010. 75 water samples were taken to determine the amount of fluoride. The water samples were taken from water networks supply including the four different educational districts. Fluoride in the water was determined by SPADNS method. Schools and students were selected by cluster and random sampling methods، respectively. Then examination of students was performed by the dental hygienist. The average concentration of the fluoride in Shiraz was 0. 69 mg/l and DMFT index was 0. 935. The maximum rate of DMFT was in the average of 1. 35 which was in the 4th district and the minimum amount was in the 1st district with the average of 0. 47. The rate of DMFT in girl and boys has been equal with the average of 0. 93. There was no statistically significant association between the amount of DMFT and age of different groups (P > 0. 05). The most amount of missing teeth (pulled out tooth) has been related to the age group 8 with the average DMFT 2. 42. The average DMFT in the 3rd and 4th district were 1. 26 and 1. 35، respectively، showing a statistically significant difference with the amount of DMFT in the 1st and 2nd district averaged 0. 47 and 0. 65 (P < 0. 001). Average DMFT index in the present study was 0. 935 which was much lower than before. Although the average amount of fluorine in Shiraz drinking water is lower than the standard، it is still less than one by improving oral hygiene the average DMFT index of students in Shiraz