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Published on: March 29, 2018
Urinary fluoride excretion in children drinking fluoridated school milk
1Department of Clinical Dental Sciences, University of Liverpool School of Dentistry, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK. ketley@liverpool.ac.uk
Insights
Children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Environmental Health
- Dental Public Health
Background:
- School milk fluoridation programs aim to improve dental health.
- Understanding fluoride excretion is crucial for assessing intake and safety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify fluoride excretion in children under varied intake conditions.
- To estimate the fractional urinary fluoride excretion in a school milk fluoridation program.
Main Methods:
- Collected 55-hour urine samples from eight 4-5-year-old children.
- Calculated maximum urinary fluoride concentration, excretion rate, and total daily excretion.
- Determined 24-hour fractional fluoride excretion after a controlled dose.
Main Results:
- Children excreted 0.33 mg of fluoride daily under typical intake conditions.
- Fractional urinary fluoride excretion from a 0.5-mg tablet was 30%.
Conclusions:
- Children's 24-hour fluoride excretion falls between low and optimal fluoridation levels.
- Fractional urinary fluoride excretion aligns with existing research findings.
Objective:
To determine fluoride excretion under various conditions of fluoride intake and to estimate the fractional urinary excretion of fluoride in individual children participating in a school milk fluoridation scheme.
Design:
In the first part of the study, individual urine samples were collected from each of eight 4 to 5-year-old children for a continuous period of 55 h. For each child (n = 8) and for each day (n = 3) the maximum urinary fluoride concentration (p.p.m.F), the maximum fluoride excretion rate (microgram F/h) and the total daily fluoride excretion (mg) were calculated. The second part of the study was carried out to determine the 24 h fractional percentage of fluoride excreted following administration of a known dose of fluoride in the absence of other sources.
Results:
Under usual conditions of fluoride intake (i.e. milk containing 0.5 mg fluoride, customary diet and toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste) the children's daily fluoride excretion was 0.33 mg. The fractional urinary fluoride excretion of a 0.5-mg fluoride tablet was 30%.
Conclusions:
It is concluded that the children's mean 24 h fluoride excretion was somewhere between that reported in low fluoride conditions and that reported in optimally fluoridated areas. The fractional urinary fluoride excretion was found to be in agreement with the findings of other workers.
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