Lactobacillus acidophilus Counts in the Saliva of Children Drinking Artificially Fluorinated and Fluorine-free Communal Waters

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Abstract
One ppm. of F as NaF has been incorporated into the Newburgh, N. Y., water supply continuously since May, 1945. Kingston, whose water is fluorine-free, is used as a control. Saliva collected from 244 school children in Newburgh in 1944 showed that 11.9% were negative and 63.5% had L. acidophilus counts of 20,000 or over. In 1946 there were 15.4% negative counts and 55.2% high counts. In 1947, 20% of 421 samples had negative counts while 47.3% had high counts. In Kingston in 1946, 16.2% of 402 children had negative counts and 54.2% had counts of 20,000 or over. In 1947, 16.2% of 408 children had negative counts, and 53.9% had counts of 20,000 or over. The differences in count, apparently due to fluorination, may be considered statistically significant.