Abstract

In three different areas of Finland, fluoride in bone and its effect on the histomorphometry of trabecular bone was studied. Bone samples were taken from cadavers from a low-fluoride area (fluoride concentration under 0.3 ppm), an area with fluoridated drinking water (1.0-1.2 ppm) and a high-fluoride area (over 1.5 ppm). The fluoride content in trabecular bone was greatly increased in the high-fluoride area, and it was also higher in the fluoridated-water area than in the low-fluoride area. Histomorphometric bone changes were markedly increased when the fluoride content in water exceeded 1.5 ppm.

Excerpt:

The main histolological change induced by fluoride is the increase of osteoid volume… This increase in osteoid parameters was observed in our study already at fluoride concentrations above 1.5 ppm. . . .  Fluoridation of drinking water up to 1.2 ppm apparently does not pose a potential risk to bone provided the renal function is normal. . . . We should, however, recognize that it is difficult to give a strict value for a safe fluoride concentration in drinking water, because individual susceptibility to fluoride varies.

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