RIYADH, 1 July — Saudi Arabia, where 46 percent of male adults suffer from varying degrees of fluorosis, will host a major international seminar on dental medicine in October, it was announced here yesterday.
Dr. Hasan ibn Muhammad Abdul Wasea, director general of the dental department at the Ministry of Health, said the conference would be held at King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh.
The latest developments in dental care with special emphasis on problems faced by residents in the Kingdom will be discussed at the event. He said experts within the Kingdom and abroad would present papers at the conference.
A recent study by a team of researchers led by Dr. Abdullah Al-Shammary, dean of the College of Dentistry at King Saud University in Riyadh, revealed that over 46 percent of male adults in the Kingdom had some degree of fluorosis, a dental disorder resulting from too much absorption of fluorine.
The study also noted that 75 percent of the population did not know about the importance of fluoride in dental health care.
The KSU study called for efforts to standardize fluoride level in water supply. In some Saudi cities, fluoride levels in water are as high as 2 to 3 parts per million. Health experts say that the optimum level of fluoride should be maintained at 0.7 ppm. Saudi Arabia has more than 300 world-class facilities for treating dental diseases.
