COMPARISON OF DENTAL FLUOROSIS BETWEEN RESIDENTS AND NON RESIDENTS OF QUETTA

Abstract

Objective: To compare the frequency of dental fluorosis between residents and non-residents of Quetta reporting to Dental Centre Quetta.

Study Design: Cross sectional comparative study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in Dental Centre Quetta, from Dec 2015 to Apr 2017.

Methodology: On the basis of inclusion criteria; two groups of 500 patients each were selected. Dean’s fluorosis index was used for scoring of the dental fluorosis. Chi square test was used for finding the association of fluorosis between residents and non-residents of Quetta.

Results: Out of the 1000 included patients 437 (43.7%) were males and 563 (56.3%) were females. The mean age was 12.25 ± 1.92 years. The mean fluorosis severity was 1.46 ± 1.67 years. For fluorosis comparison between residents and non-residents, our results showed that fluorosis was present in 71.4% of the resident and 24% of the non-residents, with a p-value of ≤0.001.

Conclusion: There was a high frequency of dental fluorosis in residents of Quetta as compared to the non-residents (Pakistanis hailing from other parts of the country).