ICNR– Data collected by the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) produced the largest and most extensive database ever used to determine whether there is a relationship between fluoridation and tooth decay. Released on June 21, 1988, the $3,670,000 nationwide survey examined 39,207 U.S. school children aged 5-17 from 84 different geographical areas.
Of the 84 areas, 28 had been fluoridated for 17 years or more, 29 had never been fluoridated, and 27 had been only partially fluoridated or fluoridated for less than 17 years. Age-adjusted tooth decay rates for the permanent teeth of children were determined for each of the 84 areas which were then listed in the order of increasing tooth decay rates. The listing showed clearly that there was no relation between tooth decay rates and fluoridation. Ironically, the lowest tooth decay rate reported in the survey occurred in a nonfluoridated area.
The average number of decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth (DMFT)
per child was 2.0 in
the fluoridated areas, 2.0 in
the nonfluoridated areas, and 2.2
in the partially fluoridated areas. The
percentage of decay-free children in the fluoridated, non fluoridated, and
partially fluoridated areas was 34%, 35%, and 31%, respectively.
The foregoing results compiled from an analysis of the data gathered by NIDR were neither sought – nor reported in the NIDR release. At the Safe Water Foundation, we extracted these results from the data of the NIDR survey and submitted them to the journal, Comm. Dent. Oral Epidemiol., for publication. After reviewing the manuscript we submitted, Dr. Irwin Bross, the former Head of the Research, Design, and Analysis unit of the Sloan-Kettering Institute, former Director of Biostatistics of the Roswell Park Memorial Institute, and the current President of Biomedical Metatechnology, commented: “The material is clear and well presented. It provides a good demonstration of its main points: There is not much difference in tooth decay rates or in the percentages of decay-free children in the three fluoridation categories.”
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