Abstract

1. Twenty-three cases of fluoride osteosclerosis are presented.

2. These cases were gathered from 170,000 roentgenographic examinations of the spine and pelvis of patients living in Texas and Oklahoma where many communities have excessive fluoride content in their drinking water.

3. In each case, adequate clinical examination failed to establish any relationship between the roentgenologic findings and clinical diagnosis of the patient’s condition.

4. Fluoride osteosclerosis developing in the patient exposed over a period of many years to fluorides as high as 8 ppm, causes no harmful changes.

5. Fluoride osteosclerosis is not evidenced roentgenographically in the patient drinking water with a fluoride content of less than 4 ppm.

6. In the patient presenting roentgen evidence of sclerosis of the bone, calcification of the sacrospinous and sacrotuberous ligaments is a distinct aid in the diagnosis of fluoride osteosclerosis.

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