Water fluoridation and defluoridation
Public Health Dentistry · Dental (BDS)
Study notes
A district has 4 ppm fluoride with severe fluorosis. What is the intervention? Defluoridation (Nalgonda technique - alum/lime treatment) or alternative water sources - because the same mineral prevents caries at 1 ppm and mottles teeth at 4. Students learn the dose parable: fluoride is public health's most dose-sensitive tool - the program's job is keeping every community in the narrow optimal band, adding where deficient, removing where excessive.
Related topics
- Dental public health: concepts, history, levels of prevention
- Epidemiology of oral diseases: caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer
- Indices: DMFT/dmft, CPI, Dean's fluorosis index
- National oral health programs and policies
- School dental health programs, pit-and-fissure programs
- Dental manpower: auxiliaries — hygienists, technicians