Past association of fluoride vehicles with caries severity in Australian adolescents

Clarification of future changes in caries severity depends upon the identification and quantification of factors associated with past changes in caries severity. The present study quantified the association of three fluoride vehicles with caries severity in Australian adolescents between 1965 and 1978. The three fluoride vehicles were fluoridated water supplies, fluoride supplements and fluoride containing dentifrice. All three fluoride vehicles were significantly associated with caries severity over the period 1965 to 1978. The direction of the associations were all negative, while the magnitude of the regression coefficients indicated that the most important association was with fluoridated water supplies, followed by fluoride supplements, then fluoride containing dentifrice.