IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i6p631-d101343.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Associations of Community Water Fluoridation with Caries Prevalence and Oral Health Inequality in Children

Author

Listed:
  • Han-Na Kim

    (Department of Dental Hygiene, College of Health Sciences, Cheongju University, 298, Daesung-ro, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju 28503, Korea
    These authors contribute equally to this work.)

  • Jeong-Hee Kim

    (Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, 49, Busandaehak-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 50612, Korea
    These authors contribute equally to this work.)

  • Se-Yeon Kim

    (Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, 49, Busandaehak-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 50612, Korea
    BK 21 PLUS Project, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Korea)

  • Jin-Bom Kim

    (Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, 49, Busandaehak-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do 50612, Korea
    BK 21 PLUS Project, School of Dentistry, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Korea
    These authors contribute equally to this work.)

Abstract

This study aimed to confirm the association between the community water fluoridation (CWF) programme and dental caries prevention on permanent teeth, comparing to a control area, neighbouring population without the programme, and verifying whether the programme can reduce the socio-economic inequality related to the oral health of children in Korea. Evaluation surveys were conducted among 6-, 8-, and 11-year-old children living in Okcheon (CWF) and neighbouring Yeongdong (non-CWF, control area) towns in South Korea. Data on monthly family income, caregiver educational level, and Family Affluence Scale scores were evaluated using questionnaires that were distributed to the parents. The effectiveness of CWF in caries reduction was calculated based on the differences in decayed, missing, and filled teeth and decayed, missing, and filled tooth surfaces indices between the two towns. The data were analysed using logistic regression and univariate analysis of variance. Both 8- and 11-year-old children living in the CWF area had lower dental caries prevalence than those living in the non-CWF community. Differences in dental caries prevalence based on educational level were found in the control area but not in the CWF area. Socio-economic factor-related inequality in oral health were observed in the non-CWF community. Additionally, 8- and 11-year-old children living in the CWF area displayed lower dental caries prevalence in the pit-and-fissure and smooth surfaces than those living in the non-CWF community. These results suggest that CWF programmes are effective in the prevention of caries on permanent teeth and can reduce oral health inequalities among children. The implementation of CWF programmes should be sustained to overcome oral health inequalities due to socio-economic factors and improve children’s overall oral health.

Suggested Citation

  • Han-Na Kim & Jeong-Hee Kim & Se-Yeon Kim & Jin-Bom Kim, 2017. "Associations of Community Water Fluoridation with Caries Prevalence and Oral Health Inequality in Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-13, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:6:p:631-:d:101343
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/6/631/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/6/631/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marco Peres & José Antunes & Karen Peres, 2006. "Is water fluoridation effective in reducing inequalities in dental caries distribution in developing countries? Recent findings from Brazil," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 51(5), pages 302-310, November.
    2. William Boyce & Torbjorn Torsheim & Candace Currie & Alessio Zambon, 2006. "The Family Affluence Scale as a Measure of National Wealth: Validation of an Adolescent Self-Report Measure," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 473-487, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Han-Na Kim & Wook-Sung Kong & Jung-Ha Lee & Jin-Bom Kim, 2019. "Reduction of Dental Caries Among Children and Adolescents From a 15-Year Community Water Fluoridation Program in a Township Area, Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, April.
    2. Naae Lee & Sungchan Kang & Woojoo Lee & Seung-sik Hwang, 2020. "The Association between Community Water Fluoridation and Bone Diseases: A Natural Experiment in Cheongju, Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Daniela Carmagnola & Gaia Pellegrini & Matteo Malvezzi & Elena Canciani & Dolaji Henin & Claudia Dellavia, 2020. "Impact of Lifestyle Variables on Oral Diseases and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Children of Milan (Italy)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Anqi Shen & Eduardo Bernabé & Wael Sabbah, 2021. "Systematic Review of Intervention Studies Aiming at Reducing Inequality in Dental Caries among Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-11, February.
    5. Fotini Venetsanou & Kyriaki Emmanouilidou & Olga Kouli & Evangelos Bebetsos & Nikolaos Comoutos & Antonis Kambas, 2020. "Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors of Young Children: Trends from 2009 to 2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-13, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mia Hakovirta & Johanna Kallio, 2016. "Children’s Perceptions of Poverty," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(2), pages 317-334, June.
    2. Jaroslava Kopcakova & Zuzana Dankulincova Veselska & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Daniel Klein & Jitse P. Dijk & Sijmen A. Reijneveld, 2018. "Are school factors and urbanization supportive for being physically active and engaging in less screen-based activities?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(3), pages 359-366, April.
    3. Elgar, Frank J. & De Clercq, Bart & Schnohr, Christina W. & Bird, Phillippa & Pickett, Kate E. & Torsheim, Torbjørn & Hofmann, Felix & Currie, Candace, 2013. "Absolute and relative family affluence and psychosomatic symptoms in adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 25-31.
    4. Klocke, Andreas & Stadtmüller, Sven, 2024. "Two generations later: New evidence on health equalisation in youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    5. Sebastian Wachs & Michelle F. Wright, 2018. "Associations between Bystanders and Perpetrators of Online Hate: The Moderating Role of Toxic Online Disinhibition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-9, September.
    6. Joanne Nicole Luke & Alister Thorpe & Carlina Black & Lisa Thorpe & David Thomas & Sandra Eades & Kevin Rowley, 2021. "Collaborative Social-Epidemiology: A Co-analysis of the Cultural and Structural Determinants of Health for Aboriginal Youth in Victorian Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-22, August.
    7. Main, Gill, 2019. "Child poverty and subjective well-being: The impact of children's perceptions of fairness and involvement in intra-household sharing," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 49-58.
    8. Dimitrios V. Diamantis & Iliana Stavropoulou & Konstantinos Katsas & Lyndsey Mugford & Athena Linos & Matina Kouvari, 2023. "Assessing Quality of Life in First- and Second-Generation Immigrant Children and Adolescents; Highlights from the DIATROFI Food Aid and Healthy Nutrition Promotion Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.
    9. Marwan Akel & Fouad Sakr & Iqbal Fahs & Ahmad Dimassi & Mariam Dabbous & Virginie Ehlinger & Pascale Salameh & Emmanuelle Godeau, 2022. "Smoking Behavior among Adolescents: The Lebanese Experience with Cigarette Smoking and Waterpipe Use," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-13, May.
    10. Petr Badura & Erik Sigmund & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Dagmar Sigmundova & Jan Sirucek & Jitse P van Dijk & Sijmen A Reijneveld, 2016. "Is Participation in Organized Leisure-Time Activities Associated with School Performance in Adolescence?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, April.
    11. Detlefsen, Lena & Friedl, Andreas & Lima de Miranda, Katharina & Schmidt, Ulrich & Sutter, Matthias, 2018. "Are Economic Preferences Shaped by the Family Context? The Impact of Birth Order and Siblings' Sex Composition on Economic Preferences," IZA Discussion Papers 11949, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Néboa Zozaya & Laura Vallejo, 2020. "The Effect of the Economic Crisis on Adolescents’ Perceived Health and Risk Behaviors: A Multilevel Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-14, January.
    13. Sinead Connolly & Angela Carlin & Anne Johnston & Catherine Woods & Cormac Powell & Sarahjane Belton & Wesley O’Brien & Jean Saunders & Christina Duff & Orlagh Farmer & Marie Murphy, 2020. "Physical Activity, Sport and Physical Education in Northern Ireland School Children: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-17, September.
    14. Catherine Fantaguzzi & Elizabeth Allen & Alec Miners & Deborah Christie & Charles Opondo & Zia Sadique & Adam Fletcher & Richard Grieve & Chris Bonell & Russell M. Viner & Rosa Legood, 2018. "Health-related quality of life associated with bullying and aggression: a cross-sectional study in English secondary schools," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(5), pages 641-651, June.
    15. Vines, Sarah & Gobel, Matthias S, 2025. "Levelling the Playing Field? How Social Class and Internships Influence Perceived Employability amongst UK University Students," OSF Preprints gszrf, Center for Open Science.
    16. Ximena Palma-Leal & Palma Chillón & Víctor Segura-Jiménez & Alejandro Pérez-Bey & Alejandro Sánchez-Delgado & Daniel Camiletti-Moirón, 2022. "Commuting to University: Self-Reported and Device-Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-12, November.
    17. Jorge-A Palacio-Vieira & Ester Villalonga-Olives & Jose Valderas & Michael Herdman & Jordi Alonso & Luis Rajmil, 2013. "Predictors of the use of healthcare services in children and adolescents in Spain," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(2), pages 207-215, April.
    18. Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero & Susana Al-Halabí & Alicia Pérez-Albéniz & Martin Debbané, 2022. "Risk and Protective Factors in Adolescent Suicidal Behaviour: A Network Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-13, February.
    19. Ann DeSmet & Maddalena Rodelli & Michel Walrave & Gwendolyn Portzky & Eva Dumon & Bart Soenens, 2021. "The Moderating Role of Parenting Dimensions in the Association between Traditional or Cyberbullying Victimization and Mental Health among Adolescents of Different Sexual Orientation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-18, March.
    20. Hansen, Kerstin F. & Stutzer, Alois, 2022. "Parental unemployment, social insurance and child well-being across countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 600-617.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:6:p:631-:d:101343. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.