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Brick tea consumption is a risk factor for dental caries and dental fluorosis among 12-year-old Tibetan children in Ganzi

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Abstract

Brick tea contains high concentration of fluoride. The aim of the present work was to explore whether and how the brick tea is a risk factor for dental caries and dental fluorosis among Tibetan children in Ganzi. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 368 12-year-old Tibetan children in Ganzi. Dental caries was measured by DMFT index, and dental fluorosis severity was measured by Dean’s Index. Community Fluorosis Index was used to estimate public health significance of dental fluorosis. Oral health-related behaviors and awareness, dietary habits and socioeconomic status were determined by a questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine risk factors associated with dental caries and dental fluorosis. Dental caries prevalence was 37.50%, mean DMFT was 0.84 ± 1.53, while dental fluorosis prevalence was 62.23%. Community Fluorosis Index was 1.35, indicating a medium prevalent strength of dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis was associated with mother’s regular consumption of brick tea and residence altitude, and dental caries was associated with mother’s regular consumption of brick tea. Mother’s regular consumption of brick tea was a risk factor for both dental fluorosis and dental caries among children. Reducing mother’s brick tea consumption during pregnancy and lactation may improve oral health status of their children.

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Acknowledgements

This survey was funded by grants from Special Project Funds of Chengdu Science and Technology Bureau (2015-HM01-00501-SF), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81400507), and China Oral Health Foundation (2016054). We appreciate Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture People’s Hospital for their support.

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  1. Rui Zhang and Li Cheng have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Department of Preventive Dentistry, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, 14#, 3rd section, Renmin South Road, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China

    Rui Zhang, Li Cheng, Tao Zhang, Ting Xu, Meng Li, Wei Yin, Yingming Yang & Tao Hu

  2. West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Qingling Jiang

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  1. Rui Zhang
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Contributions

RZ, LC, TZ, TX, ML, WY and YY performed data collection. RZ, CL and QJ performed data analysis. RZ and CL performed results interpretation and drafted the manuscript. All authors reviewed/edited the manuscript and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Yingming Yang or Tao Hu.

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Zhang, R., Cheng, L., Zhang, T. et al. Brick tea consumption is a risk factor for dental caries and dental fluorosis among 12-year-old Tibetan children in Ganzi. Environ Geochem Health 41, 1405–1417 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-018-0216-7

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