Epidemiological survey of fluorosis in a village of Bastar division of Chhattisgarh state, India

Context: Fluorosis is an important public health problem in few pockets of some states of India. Aim: The aim was to study the prevalence of fluorosis, mapping the deformities, the type and severity of deformities and to assess the fluoride concentration in prime drinking water sources in the Dimrapal village of Bastar region. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of the Dimrapal village was done by door to door visit and on-site clinical examination of the study population was carried out. This was followed by collection of drinking water samples in selected paras for estimating fluoride levels. Statistical Analysis Used: Analysis was done using prevalence rate, Chi-square test, mean and standard deviation. Results: Overall prevalence of fluorosis cases was found to be 23.10%. The prevalence of dental fluorosis was 12.6% that of skeletal fluorosis was 28.8%, and the combined prevalence of dental and skeletal fluorosis was 1.8%. Dental fluorosis was found to be very common in children and teenagers. Skeletal fluorosis was found to be more common in age group above 45 years, however, it was lower in the children’s (6-12) irrespective of the gender. The fluoride level in surveyed ground water sources from various para ranged from 0.1 to 7.30 ppm.