Summary
During the last decades, considerable scientific attention has been paid to the safety of fluoride, given the wide variety of sources of intake at which the population is exposed and the risks to the health of people this may produce. The aim was to determine whether water fluoridation at concentrations from 0.6 to 1 ppm is associated with a higher proportion of adverse effects in the general population when comparing them to suboptimal concentrations. A systematic review was conducted of the literature in MEDLINE, EMBASE, COCHRANE, SCIELO, LILACS, CRD, BBO, PAHO and WHOLIS, limited to 2002 to 2012. Included were primary and secondary studies in Spanish, English and Portuguese with at least two compared populations, one with optimal fluoride levels in the water (0.6–1 ppm) and another without water fluoridation (<0.3 ppm) or with suboptimal levels (>0.3 < 0.6ppm). Two researchers independently evaluated the quality of the articles selected and which met the inclusion criteria. The search revealed 1024 articles, of which 24 met the inclusion criteria and 10 were included as evidence. With the exception of dental fluorosis, there is no association between any other adverse effect and water fluoridation. Despite the greater prevalence of fluorosis in fluoride than in non-fluoride zones, this was mainly questionable to slight and the proportion of fluorosis with esthetic damage does not differ significantly from this in zones without water fluoridation.
KEY WORDS: fluoride, drinking water, fluorosis, adverse effects.
How to cite this article
ZAROR, C.; VALLEJOS, C.; CORSINI, G.; DE LA PUENTE, C.; VELÁSQUEZ, M.;TESSADA-SEPÚLVEDA, R.; DEL VALLE-ARANDA, C.;VEGA-RODRÍGUEZ, G. Systematic review of the adverse effects of water fluoridation. Int. J. Odontostomat., 9(1):165-171, 2015.
