OBJECTIVE: This study determined the prevalence of fluorosis in children from the city of San Francisco do Conde, Salvador metropolitan region. METHODOLOGY: All students from 1st to 5th year of elementary school who were studying in schools with more than 150 enrolled students were selected, totaling 1716 students. The Dean Index was used to measure the degree of fluorosis, as recommended by WHO. RESULT: 1474 children aged 7-13 years were examined and 54.61% male and 55.39% living in rural areas. Of those who had fluorosis (39.80%), 37.02% were classified as very mild, mild 1.97% and 0.81% moderate. The students of 10 years of age had a higher prevalence of fluorosis. There was no difference in prevalence between rural and urban areas. CONCLUSION: Due to the low prevalence, fluorosis does not constitute a public health problem in the city, but a problem of sanitary and epidemiological surveillance.
Fluorosis; dental; school health; epidemiology; public health; cross-sectional studies; dental caries