Assessment of Health Risk of Daily Fluoride Intake of Some Selected Dentifrices used in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Background: Several dentifrices are marketed and used by individuals for the purposes of cleaning and maintaining the aesthetic and health of the teeth, promote oral hygiene and aid in removal of dental plaque and food materials from the teeth. This study was thus designed to assess the pH and fluoride concentrations in selected dentifrices and the possible health risks associated with daily fluoride intake of these selected dentifrices used in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: This study estimated the pH and fluoride concentration of the different dentifrices by the pH meter and Ion Selective Electrode method. In addition, the Daily fluoride intake (DFI), Chronic daily intake (CDI) and Hazard quotient (HQ) for the different dentifrices to assess the risk of fluoride intake was calculated.

Results: From the result of this study, it was noticed that only one dentifrice, chewing stick (Massularia acuminate) has a pH (6.8) that conform to the recommended pH range (6.0-7.5) by NAFDAC while the other dentifrices have a pH value (7.6-10.1) that was higher than the pH range recommended by NAFDAC. For the fluoride concentration, it was observed that some of the dentifrices like Dr. Agnes Nwanmma dental powder (440 ppm), Dr. White dental powder (480 ppm) and Eradental powder (760 ppm) have low fluoride concentration when compared with the fluoride standard concentration stipulated by SON/ NAFDAC (825-1250 ppm) while the other dentifrices showed fluoride concentration within the range stipulated by stipulated by SON/ NAFDAC but they were below the fluoride concentrations stated on their different labels. The DFI of the dentifrices was within the range (53.86-131.58 mg/day), CDI (0.744-1.8275 mg/kg/day and the HQ (12.27-30.46).

Conclusion: Although the fluoride concentrations of the dentifrices were within the normal range as stipulated by NAFDAC and SON, the observation of HQ > 1 in all the dentifrices implied that dentifrices commonly used in Nigeria may pose health risk to the consumers.