ArticleJournal of dental research2025
Early Childhood Exposures to Fluorides and Cognitive Neurodevelopment: A Population-Based Longitudinal Study.
Article in Journal of dental research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review on the Association Between Water Fluoride Levels and Dental Fluorosis: Exploring the 'Halo Effect' and Confounding Environmental Factors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Fluoride and Neurodevelopmental Hazard Modelling: An Assessment of Concentration-Response Analysis.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2026Pooled it
- Fluoride application in middle childhood. A cross-sectional study.Clinical oral investigations · 2025Trial
- Functional MgAl LDH@SiOMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Navigating fluoride hesitancy: mapping the evidence base for fluoride-free toothpaste alternatives.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Review
- Children's drinking water sources in the state of Qatar: parental preferences and knowledge of its fluoride content.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026Article
- A 40-year decline in permanent-tooth caries among 12-year-olds in Japan in the absence of systemic fluoride-based prevention: public health implications.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Sodium butyrate attenuates sodium fluoride-induced cardiac injury in rats via modulating oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Updated consumer risk assessment of fluoride in food and drinking water including the contribution from other sources of oral exposure.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2025Article
- Projected Outcomes of Removing Fluoride From US Public Water Systems.JAMA health forum · 2025Article
- Dietary Fluoride Exposure During Early Childhood and Its Association with Dental Fluorosis in a Sample of Mexican Adolescents.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Advances in knowledge and practice benefiting the health and management of first permanent molars in children.British dental journal · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
It is important to maintain confidence in the risk and benefit balance of major caries-preventive programs using fluoride. The ongoing debate about potential effects of early-life exposures to fluoride on cognitive neurodevelopment requires high-quality scientific evidence. This study aimed to investigate the potential effects of fluoride exposure on cognitive neurodevelopment assessed with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale 4th edition (WAIS-IV) in an Australian population-based sample. The sample was selected from the National Child Oral Health Study (NCOHS) 2012-2014. NCOHS collected data on socioeconomic factors, oral health behaviors, and residential history to estimate percentage lifetime exposure to fluoridated water during the first 5 y of life (%LEFW). NCOHS children were also examined by trained and calibrated examiners to assess dental fluorosis (a reliable and valid individual biomarker of total fluoride intake during early childhood). The sample was followed up in 2022-2023 to collect data on cognitive neurodevelopment (intelligence quotient [IQ]) using the WAIS-IV, which was administered by trained and calibrated qualified psychologists. Multivariable regression models were generated to investigate associations between the 2 exposure measurements (%LEFW and dental fluorosis) with full-scale IQ (FSIQ) scores, controlling for important confounding effects. Hypotheses of noninferiority were also tested, contrasting different levels of exposure to fluoride. Some 357 participants aged 16 to 26 y completed the WAIS-IV, with a mean FSIQ score of 109.2 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 107.8-110.5). The estimates of the multivariable regression models demonstrated slightly higher FSIQ scores among the exposed than the nonexposed. The adjusted β of 100%LEFW versus 0%LEFW was 1.07 (95% CI: -2.86, 5.01) and of having dental fluorosis versus no fluorosis was 0.28 (95% CI: -3.00, 3.57). The hypothesis of noninferiority tests found that FSIQ scores of those exposed and nonexposed to fluoride were equivalent. The study provided consistent evidence that early childhood exposure to fluoride does not have effects on cognitive neurodevelopment.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.