MEXICO: 80 Percent of Zacatecas Residents Suffer DF

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80 Percent of Zacatecas Residents Suffer Dental Fluorosis

Ooska News - August 30, 2012

Mexico, ZACATECAS — The Health Services in Mexico’s Zacatecas state are carrying out an anti-fluorosis campaign after it was found that approximately 80 percent of the population is affected by dental fluorosis.

The condition is caused by drinking water from wells, which contain high levels of fluoride, and is most common in rural communities, where the water is not treated adequately, according to NTR Zacatecas newspaper.

The campaign is focused on stopping residents from drinking water from wells, as well as discouraging them from boiling water, which just concentrates the mineral.

The Zacatecas Health Services is recommending filtration to purify the water. Pregnant women are being urged to drink only bottled water.

Rosalina Reyes Ortega of the State Program for Oral Health said last week that the areas of Juchipila, Vetagrande, Ojocaliente, Pánfilo Natera and Genaro Codina are the most affected.

The states of Durango, Nayarit, Aguascalientes, and Baja California also suffer from high levels of fluoride in the water, she added.

Reyed Ortega said that approximately 15 percent of those suffering from fluorosis come to the Health Services, but the agency cannot treat them, and must direct them to private dentists.

There are five stages of fluorosis, progressing from coffee-colored stains on the teeth to, in the worst cases, teeth cracking and falling out.

SOURCE:
http://www.ooskanews.com/daily-water-br ... osis_24110