Peruvian Milk Fluoridation Project : cross sectional caries results

The city of Trujillo is located on the northern coastal plain northern Peru. As part of a broader nutritional programme children received a glass of milk a day from the time they were weaned. Levels of dental caries are high in children and due to the milk programme a community study of milk fluoridation was carried out. Objectives: To present the cross sectional results of a five year community milk fluoridation study in Trujillo, Peru of children aged 2 and 5 years. Methods: Three communities were included in the study. Children in Groups one and two received 250mls of milk daily while Group three received no milk. The milk for Group one was supplemented with 0.25mg of fluoride. Caries data were collected for five years from baseline (1999) until 2004 for all children aged 2years and 5years in each community. Fluoride levels in milk were measured. Results: It was possible to deliver fluoridated milk to a community which contained a consistent level of fluoride. At baseline, 520 children aged 2years and 549 aged 5years were examined, in 2004 the sample sizes were 303 and 389 respectively. In 2year olds, mean dmft fell from 2.2 to 1.1 (Group 1), 2.4 to 1.3 (Group 2) and 2.7 to 1.2 (Group 3). In the 5year olds there were reductions of mean dmft of 6.1 to 3.9, 5.2 to 3.7 and 5.5 to 4.0 in the three groups respectively and an increase in the number of children with no caries in the permanent dentition. Conclusions: There was no significant difference in the reduction of caries levels in those who drank fluoridated milk compared with the other groups. Fluoridated milk in this setting, at this concentration cannot be recommended as a method of caries prevention.