A SURVEY of almost 5,000 children in the Southern Health Board area has shown that since 1984, there has been a marked drop in tooth decay, mainly due to the use of fluoride in toothpaste and water fluoridation schemes.
The survey, conducted in 1995 by the Health Services Research Centre at University College Cork, found that in 12 year olds, a measurement to count the number of teeth decayed, missing due to decay or filled because of decay, known as the DMF measurement, showed a significant drop since the last survey in 1984.
In that year, in areas with a fluoridated water supply scheme, a 3.3 per cent incidence was recorded using the DMF measurement. However, by 1995, the figure had dropped to 1.3 per cent. Non fluoridated areas had a 4.1 per cent DMF return in 1984, whereas, in 1995, the figure had dropped to 1.8 per cent.
The reason for this, according to the survey, was the increased use of fluoride in toothpastes. A similar exercise among 15 year olds for fluoridated areas in 1984 gave DMF readings of 5.4 per cent and a decrease to 2.8 per cent in 1995. In non fluoridated areas, the figures were 6.8 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively.
The survey acknowledged the role played since 1960 by the Health Fluoridation of Water Supplies Act, saying the improvement in dental hygiene was related directly to 73 per cent of the population in the Republic now having access to fluoridation schemes.
However, the survey also found that more than half of all 12-15 year olds needed instruction in brushing their teeth and that one in seven boys had damaged their front teeth due to trauma, compared with one in 20 girls.
The majority of 8-15 year olds brushed their teeth twice daily, but frequent consumption of sweet snacks between meals was particularly common in 15 year olds. In each of the age groups examined, children living in areas with fluoridation schemes had better oral health than those living in areas where such schemes had not yet been introduced.