An epidemiological study on fluorosis in an urban slum area of Nalgonda, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

Fluorosis is an important public health problem in certain parts of India. Nalgonda is one of the fluorosis endemic districts of Andhra Pradesh. A cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of dental and skeletal fluorosis in Panagal, one of the urban slum areas of Nalgonda town of Andhra Pradesh. 265 individuals residing in 92 households of five colonies of Panagal were selected by multi-stage random sampling. Fluorosis was assessed by standard clinical methods and water samples were tested for fluoride level. It was observed that mean fluoride level in ground water samples in the area was 4.01 mg/l and that of Nagarjunsagar water was 0.74 mg/l. The mean age of the study subjects in the area was 34.73 years. The overall prevalence of skeletal fluorosis was 24.9% and that of dental fluorosis was 30.6%. The prevalence increased with age. Skeletal and dental fluorosis is endemic in the study area.