Epidemic Trend of Dental Fluorosis in Mainland China, 1995-2020: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this system review and meta-analysis was to explore the epidemiological characteristics of dental fluorosis in mainland China from 1995 to 2020. A comprehensive literature search was conducted through PubMed, Embase, CBM, CNKI, Chinese Wan Fang database, and VIP database. Subgroup analyses were done to explore epidemic tread of dental fluorosis (gender, location, survey year and geographical distribution) with the help of relative software. Forty-one publications were included in this study. The overall prevalence was 23.6%, and the prevalence of dental fluorosis increased from 18.8% during 1995–1999 to 34.3% during 2010–2014, while it decreased to 20.5% during 2015–2019. There was no significant difference in prevalence between boys (15.7%) and girls (15.2%) (RR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02–1.07); and the prevalence of dental fluorosis in rural areas (14.5%) was slightly higher than those in urban areas (12.7%) (RR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.76–1.13). The prevalence before (63.3%) and after (34.7%) water improvement showed a great benefit of fluoride reduction policy. Result of this meta-analysis provides evidence enable governments taking effective measures to control dental fluorosis.