A study of dental staining among competitive swimmers

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of dental stains (DS) in competitive swimmers and quantify the risk of these stains compared with sportsmen in a non-swimmers group in Castellon, Spain. Methods: Cross-sectional and case- control designs. Between July 1996 and March 1997, 404 subjects, (171 enrol led in two clubs of competitive swimming and 233 sportsmen from two schools ), were examined in order to detect and classify yellowish-brown or dark-br own stains on the facial surface of the eight incisors. Participation rates were 88.6% for swimmers, and 95.7% for sportsmen. Mean of participants' ag e was 12 years, range 7-22 years. Castellon has three public competition sw imming pools, two of which are indoors. Two of the pools used chloride prod ucts, and the third bromine for the disinfection of water. The recommended hygiene regulations were adhered to. Results: Prevalence of DS was 60.2% in swimmers and 12.9% in sportsmen (P = 0.0001). Risk factors for DS included : use of competition swimming pools, age, gender, years of competition, dai ly consumption of coffee, red wine, and iron supplement during the last yea r. Professional dental cleanliness was a protective factor. in a logistic r egression analysis, the use of competition swimming pools maintained a high risk of DS, odds ratio (OR) = 9.28; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.21-16.5 , adjusted by the other variables. Amongst swimmers, more than 6 h of train ing a week increased the risk of these stains (OR = 3.51; 95% CI 1.35-9.10) . Conclusion: The study indicated a high risk of DS in competitive swimmers .