PubMed1977
The struggle against caries and their consequences calls for continuing and considerable financial support by governments. The exact extent of caries incidence is evident in official statistics on Hamburg school children. Childhood caries leading to the physiologically damaging, premature loss of deciduous teeth often causes subsequent malocclusion of the remaining teeth, thereby requiring costly, time-consuming orthodontic treatment. The endogenous and exogenous effects of fluorides on the developing or mature hard tissues of the dentition can significantly reduce the incidence of caries. These caries-inhibiting properties can be mostly clearly seen in the example of Vordingborg (Denmark), where naturally occurring drinking water has a fluoride content of between 1.3 and 1.7 parts per million. Comparisons have shown that despite absolutely equivalent conditions, including identical school dental care, the incidence of caries among Vordingborg children is nevertheless only a third of that in parallel groups from Roskilde, where the fluoride content of drinking water is only 0;1 to 0.3 parts per million.