Residential histories collected during a national survey of oral health of U.S. schoolchildren conducted in 1986-1987 were used to establish two groups: those children who always lived on a public water supply in a fluoridated community (N=8,165) and those who never lived in a fluoridated community (N=8,233). Comparisons of the mean levels of Decayed, Missing and Filled Surfaces were made by age, sex and region of the country. Mean DMFS for children with lifelong exposure to water fluoridation was 2.8 compared to 3.4 mean DMFS for children who had never lived in areas with fluoridated water. Mean DMFS for mesial-distal surfaces was about one-third higher in children without water fluoridation. Both groups of children reported high use of supplemental and/or topical fluorides. Regional differences between groups varied greatly from 61% difference in Region VII to 6% difference in Region III. These findings were presented at a workshop """"""""Mechanisms of Fluoride"""""""" and published in the Journal of Dental Research, Sp. Iss. Feb. 1990. Mean dfs for deciduous teeth was computed for those children ages 5-9 who had a lifelong history of community water fluoridation or no history of water fluoridation. The mean dfs was lower in all age groups for children on fluoridated community water supplies, with a combined difference of 23% fewer dfs.
