Advances in Dental Research, Vol 9, 120-121, Copyright © 1995 by International & American Associations for Dental Research
Caries reduction by milk fluoridation in Bulgaria
K. Ivanova, G. N. Pakhomov, I. J. Moeller and M. Vrabcheva
Dental Faculty, University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
The aim of the present study has been to investigate the caries-reducing
effect of a community-based milk fluoridation project. In those
Kindergartens where fluoridated milk had been delivered on a regular basis,
the estimated consumption corresponded to a daily intake of 200 mL milk
containing 1 mg F- (5 ppm F-) for periods of 180-200 days per year. A total
of 204 six-year-old children, randomly selected, was examined at baseline
and three and a half years after the start of the project. A statistically
significant reduction in the prevalence of dental caries was obtained for
those children who had received fluoridated milk on a regular basis. In
six-year-old children, the reduction in the dmft figure was 40% and in the
DMFT figure, 90%. Despite the deficiencies in the design of this study
(dictated by local circumstances), the results confirm the findings of
other studies on the caries-reducing effect of fluoridated milk. The
results also confirm that the earlier in the child's life the consumption
of fluoridated milk starts, the better the effect.
