Foundations of fluoride prophylaxis in Poland and the prosthetic rehabilitation of the masticatory organ in arthropathies and malocclusion: Scientific achievements of Professor Noemi Wigdorowicz-Makowerowa.

Abstract

Professor Noemi Wigdorowicz-Makowerowa was born in Warsaw to a Polish Jewish family on November 24, 1912. She graduated from the Medical University of Warsaw in 1937 and from the Academy of Dentistry in 1939. In early 1940, she was forcibly relocated to the Warsaw Ghetto, from which she escaped in January 1943. Shortly after the Second World War, in 1946, she started working at Wroclaw University. She conducted multiple studies there on the fluoride prophylaxis of caries, and on temporomandibular joint arthropathy and its etiology. She proved the efficiency of tap water fluoridation in caries prevention through a comparative study on children from schools in Wroclaw and Malbork, where the fluoride concentrations were 0.1 mg/L and 3.2 mg/L, respectively. The incidence of deep caries and the rate of tooth mortality were significantly lower in Malbork. Her long-term studies on the fluoride prophylaxis of caries prompted Professor Wigdorowicz-Makowerowa to found the Scientific and Technical Team for Fluoride Prophylaxis, based at the Department of Dental Prosthetics in the Institute of Dentistry of Wroclaw Medical University, which led to the creation of 35 fluoride water treatment plants in Poland by 1980. Moreover, she emphasized that malocclusion caused by dental caries and tooth loss, bruxism, higher susceptibility to stress, and increased muscle tone may constitute reasons for masticatory organ disorders. In her long career of over 30 years, she published 68 articles about fluorine and its use in dentistry, and 50 articles about temporomandibular joint arthropathy and other masticatory organ disorders.