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. 2009 Feb;6(2):710-21.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph6020710. Epub 2009 Feb 16.

Exposure to high fluoride drinking water and risk of dental fluorosis in Estonia

Ene Indermitte  1 , Astrid Saava, Enn Karro
Affiliations

Exposure to high fluoride drinking water and risk of dental fluorosis in Estonia

Ene Indermitte et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2009 Feb.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess exposure to drinking water fluoride and evaluate the risk of dental fluorosis among the Estonian population. The study covered all 15 counties in Estonia and 93.7% of population that has access to public water supplies. In Estonia groundwater is the main source for public water supply systems in most towns and rural settlements. The content of natural fluoride in water ranges from 0.01 to 7.20 mg/L. The exposure to different fluoride levels was assessed by linking data from previous studies on drinking water quality with databases of the Health Protection Inspectorate on water suppliers and the number of water consumers in water supply systems. Exposure assessment showed that 4% of the study population had excessive exposure to fluoride, mainly in small public water supplies in western and central Estonia, where the Silurian-Ordovician aquifer system is the only source of drinking water. There is a strong correlation between natural fluoride levels and the prevalence of dental fluorosis. Risk of dental fluorosis was calculated to different fluoride exposure levels over 1.5 mg/L.

Keywords: Drinking water; Estonia; dental fluorosis; exposure; fluoride.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Map of study area, location of water supply systems with high fluoride content (>1.5 mg/L) by number of water consumers.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Distribution of population exposed to different fluoride levels in drinking water.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Distribution of population exposed to excessive fluoride levels (over 1.5 mg/L) by counties.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Correlation of dental fluorosis with drinking water fluoride.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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