ENAMEL MOTTLING IN A NONFLUORIDE COMMUNITY SINCE THE ADVENT OF FLUORIDE TOOTHPASTES

In 1987 an assessment of mottling in incisor teeth was carried out on a random sample of 12-year-old children in Liverpool, England. The number of children examined was 471. All of these children were born and had lived in Liverpool when the fluoride content of the water supply had averaged 0.1 parts/10(6). During this time the market share of fluoride toothpastes had increased from 5% in the early 1970s to 91.8% in 1987. The mouth prevalence of mottling was found to be 31.1%. The tooth prevalence of mottling was found to be 7.83%. There was no sex difference. The data obtained was compared with findings in 1974-75 in Liverpool before the advent of fluoride toothpastes. The data suggests that there has been a decrease in the prevalence of mottling in Liverpool since 1974-75.