ASSOCIATION BETWEEN STRONTIUM IN DRINKING-WATER SUPPLIES AND LOW CARIES PREVALENCE IN MAN

Dental caries examinations were carried out on 1313 children aged 12 to 14 years living in seven Wisconsin, U.S.A. communities. Fluoride concentrations in drinking water supplies varied between 1.00 to 1.29 mg/l, and strontium concentrations between 0.022 and 33.94 mg/l. For life-long residents only, an association between caries prevalence and drinking water strontium concentrations was seen which described a quadratic curve. Lowest caries prevalence was seen in towns with strontium water concentrations of approximately 5-6 mg/l. © 1978.