HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Appendix Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Griffin, S.O. Articles by Huntley, V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Griffin, S.O. Articles by Huntley, V.

Effectiveness of Fluoride in Preventing Caries in Adults

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Division of Oral Health, 4770 Buford Highway, MSF10, Chamblee, GA 30341, USA;
² Defense Resources Management Institute, Naval Postgraduate School, 699 Dyer Road, Monterey, CA 93943, USA; and
³ H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0205, USA;

^* corresponding author, sig1{at}cdc.gov

To date, no systematic reviews have found fluoride to be effective in preventing dental caries in adults. The objective of this meta-analysis was to examine the effectiveness of self- and professionally applied fluoride and water fluoridation among adults. We used a random-effects model to estimate the effect size of fluoride (absolute difference in annual caries increment or relative risk ratio) for all adults aged 20+ years and for adults aged 40+ years. Twenty studies were included in the final body of evidence. Among studies published after/during 1980, any fluoride (self- and professionally applied or water fluoridation) annually averted 0.29 (95%CI: 0.16–0.42) carious coronal and 0.22 (95%CI: 0.08–0.37) carious root surfaces. The prevented fraction for water fluoridation was 27% (95%CI: 19%–34%). These findings suggest that fluoride prevents caries among adults of all ages.

KEY WORDS: caries • fluoride • adults • meta-analysis

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Cockcroft and L. Donaldson The Department of Health's view BMJ, October 27, 2007; 335(7625): 840 - 840. [Full Text] [PDF]