Dept Home Page > Department Faculty > Stewart Turner, Ph.D.

Stewart Turner, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Telephone: 713.500.4588
E-mail: stewart.turner@uth.tmc.edu

About Dr. Turner

Three hundred fifty three general and pediatric dentists in the Houston area were surveyed in 2000 to determine their fluoride knowledge and prescription practices in anticipation of the release of new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (Narendran, Chan, Turner and Keene in press).  This figure presents a sample of the results, showing the distribution in responses to the question "At what age do you begin dietary fluoride supplement for your patients?"

Dr. Turner has collaborated with clinical dentists and dental scientists to broaden understanding of the impact of the use of fluoride on oral health. Specifically we are looking at its distribution in the body and our diet, its impact on the physiology of the tooth and its impact on properties of dental materials.

Since the classic work of the late 1940s that demonstrated fluoridation of water supplies to be a practical and effective public health measure that would reduce the incidence of dental caries (by as much as 65%) more and more communities have instituted water fluoridation programs. Over the years this has had the effect of increasing our total fluoride exposure, thus increasing the potential of over prescribing fluoride as its levels increased not only in our drinking water, but in commercial foods and beverages prepared with fluoridated water and increasing numbers of over-the-counter fluoridated dental products.

Recognizing the changing environment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published new recommendations for prescribing fluoride supplements to prevent caries (MMWR 50(RR-14):1-42, 2001). In preparation for the release of these recommendations the CDC contracted with our laboratory to assess the current knowledge and fluoride prescribing practices of general and pediatric dentists in the Houston area to ascertain how they differ from the new guidelines. Other laboratories were asked to look at knowledge and fluoride prescribing practices of public health dentists and pediatricians. This information was used to develop professional development activities to assist the practitioner in compliance with the new guidelines. Continuing work focuses on the evaluation of the efficacy of these professional development activities.

Selected Reading

Turner, SD, Chan, JT, Li, E. (1998) Impact of imported beverages on fluoridated and nonfluoridated communities. General Dentistry 46(2):190-193.

Warren, DP, Infante, NB, Rice, HC, Turner, SD, Chan, JT. (2001) Effect of Topical Fluoride on Retention of Pit and Fissure Sealants, The Journal of Dental Hygiene 57(1):21-24.

Chan, JT, Turner, SD, Narendran, S, Keene, HJ. (2001) Use of Fluoride in Dental Caries Prevention - An Update. Journal of the Greater Houston Dental Society (72(7):15-23.

Search PubMed for additional articles.