Water fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries.

Study answer

What this study found

Water fluoridation was associated with less dental caries in children, but the evidence is low quality and mostly comes from studies published before 1975. Pooled estimates showed reductions in dmft of 1.81 (95% CI 1.31 to 2.31; 9 studies) and in DMFT of 1.16 (95% CI 0.72 to 1.61; 10 studies), with absolute increases in caries-free proportions of 0.15 for deciduous dentition and 0.14 for permanent dentition. Higher fluoride exposure was associated with more dental fluorosis: aesthetic-concern fluorosis at 0.7 ppm was 12% (95% CI 8% to 17%; 40 studies, 59,630 participants), and any-level…

Study & population

Systematic review and meta-analysis of mostly observational community studies, largely school-based, conducted across multiple countries.

Intervention

Community water fluoridation (artificial or natural) was evaluated against non-fluoridated water.

Key limitation

Evidence was largely observational, with high risk of bias, heterogeneity, and limited applicability to modern settings.

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Original abstract