At all ages 7.1 per cent of white children with continuous residence, and 15.9 per cent of Negro children with the same history, showed one of the positive signs of fluorosis--very mild or mild in degree. About the same proportions--7.7 and 14.1 percent, respectively--were found in children aged 12 to 14 years. Community fluorosis indices as defined by Dean, were .14 and .33 for white and Negro children of all ages with continuous residence, and .15 and .31, respectively, for continuous-resident
Conclusions
Although it is well known that the ingestion of high levels of fluoride can give rise to severe lesions in the skeletal tissues, such effects have never been found radiographically in persons using a water supply, containing less than 4 p.p.m fluorlde throughout life.
A histological study of thirty ribs taken from deceased residents of a region where the drinking water contained 1.9 p.p.m. fluoride revealed no changes characteristic of skeletal fluorosis.
Although even at a level
