Occlusal disharmonies of primary dentition in a high and a low fluoride area of Turkey

This investigation was undertaken to compare occlusal disharmonies in the primary dentition of 332 pre-school children in a high fluoride area with those of 332 children in a low fluoride area of Turkey. The study populations consisted of 159 girls and 173 boys, ages 3-6, living in high-fluoride Isparta (mean 2.16 ppm F in the drinking water) along with 161 girls and 171 boys of the same ages living in low-fluoride Erzurum (0.04 ppm F). The percentages (in parentheses) of the various occlusal disharmonies for the high versus the low fluoride areas were: deep overbite (10.5 vs 9.1), excessive overjet (9.04 vs 9.6), anterior crossbite (7.5 vs 1.5), anterior openbite (3.9 vs 7.8), posterior crossbite (2.1 vs 1.5), and anterior crowding (0.6 vs 3.3). Three of these six differences are statistically significant. In the high fluoride area, anterior crossbite was significantly higher (p