Child fluorosis in Chhattisgarh, India: a community-based survey.

OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence and type of fluorosis among children from randomly selected villages of Chhattisgarh, and its relationship with fluoride levels in drinking water. METHODS A community based door-to-door survey was conducted in the sampled villages of seven districts of Chhattisgarh state during the year 2013-14. The field case definitions were used for labelling types of fluorosis. The fluoride concentration in drinking water was estimated by ion selective electrode method. RESULTS The prevalence of fluorosis ranged between 12 to 44% in children of surveyed districts. The fluoride levels in drinking water of selected villages were in the range of 0.1-9.0 ppm. CONCLUSION Dental and skeletal fluorosis is endemic among children in the surveyed districts of Chhattisgarh State, and is related to drinking water with fluoride content of =1.5 ppm.