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Biomedical subjects

A Pärkö

Publications and source records attributed to A Pärkö.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Has the increase in selenium intake led to a decrease in caries among children and the young in Finland.

Finland is poor in selenium. Selenium deficit leads to muscular dystrophy in animals. Since 1962, selenium has been added in Finland to some animal foodstuffs, since 1968 to all animal foodstuffs. Addition of selenium to fertilizers started in 1984. Intake of selenium by man and cattle today is roughly 1.0 times higher than it was before selenium supplementation. Collagen is the most important component of the organic matrix of the tooth. Selenium can replace sulphur in bonds of collagen. The resulting bond is stronger than a sulphur bond. Since selenium supplementation, the conditions of the teeth of children and young people has improved considerably. The author believes that selenium supplementation has reduced the incidence of caries in young Finns.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Longitudinal study of dental caries prevalence and incidence in the rapakivi (high fluoride) and olivine diabase (low fluoride) areas of Laitila, Finland.

This paper is a continuation of the author's study published in 1975. The teeth of the school children included in the study were first examined in 1952, re-examined in 1972 and subsequently at 5-year intervals. Children in the village of Salo had drinking water with a high fluride content and those in the village of Suontaka drank water with a low fluoride content. In the first examination, the Salo children showed a caries prevalence, measured with the DMF inxed, ca. 67% lower than the Suontaka children. With some exceptions, such as the first molars, the absolute differences in caries prevalence between subjects from the two villages had remained practically the same throughout the years. By the 1987 examination, the difference had been reduced, measured with the DMF index, to about 23% and with the DMFS index, to about 28%. In the last 5 years (1982-87), the DMFS index of the Suontaka pupils increased by 2.5 and that of the Salo pupils by 4.1. In the preceding two 5-year periods the increment in each group was ca. 7.0%.

Adult↗