• Jaume Miranda-Rius, Lluís Brunet-Llobet, Eduard Lahor-Soler, Ombeni Mrina, Elias I Mashala, and Michael J Mahande.
• Department of Odontostomatology. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
• Afr Health Sci. 2020 Mar 1; 20 (1): 476-487.

IntroductionDental fluorosis is endemic in the Rift Valley in Africa, especially around volcanic areas, due to the high fluoride content in daily drinking water.ObjectiveThis study evaluates the oral health status and types of occlusion in a school population, and to assess the possible association between dental fluorosis and other pathologies such as decay, gingivitis and periodontitis.Material And MethodsAn observational study of 581 individuals recruited from a public secondary school in Arusha, Northern Tanzania was undertaken. The indices used were: the Silness & Löe Plaque Index, the Community Periodontal Index and the Decayed/Missing/Filled index. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed and a chi-square test was used to assess the associations between independent variables.ResultsAlmost all the school children evaluated (96.73%) presented Angle class I dental occlusion, and 75.22% presented some degree of dental fluorosis. Most of the population (511, 87.95%) showed bleeding on probing. A moderate/high degree of some dental pathology (DMF score) was recorded in 14.46%. The association between dental fluorosis, gingival bleeding and tooth decay indicated a higher concentration of pathology in groups with more severe fluorosis (p<0.05).ConclusionIn this large population sample, both tooth decay and gingivitis were significantly associated with moderate or severe dental fluorosis.© 2020 Miranda-Rius J et al.

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