Enamel mottling in 15-year-old children in Barnsley Area, England.

The purpose of this study was to gather base-line data of mottling in 15-year-old children. The survey was carried out in low-fluoride Barnsley Area (F = 0.1 parts/10(6)) in December, 1976. In a random convenience sample, 270 children were examined. The mouth prevalence of mottling was 36.3% and the tooth prevalence was 8.8%. There was no sex difference in the prevalence of mottling. Over 83% of mottling was white (types A and B). Mottling occurred most frequently in the maxillary incisors and was most common in the incisal third of all incisors examined. The results are compared with data from six other studies where the same classification of mottling was used.