Abstract

A 10-year study of 116 persons in Bartlett and 121 in Cameron, Tex., was conducted to determine if prolonged exposure to fluoride in the water supply of Bartlett had produced detectable physiological effects.

Bartlett’s water contained about 8 p.p.m. F until 1952, when an experimental defluoridation unit was installed, reducing the fluoride content to approximately 1.2 p.p.m. F. Cameron was the control area with 0.4 p.p.m. F in its water supply.

The participants, aged 15 to 68 in 1943, were chosen at random from persons who had resided in the respective communities for at least 15 years. The average length of fluoride exposure in 1953 was 36.1 years.

In 1943, the investigators took medical histories and gave each participant a medical, X-ray, and dental examination. In 1953, this procedure was repeated for all the original participants, except the 18 deceased and 10 of the 41 persons who had moved away from the 2 towns.

No significant differences between the findings in the two towns were observed, except for a slightly higher rate of cardiovascular abnormalities in Cameron and a marked predominance of dental fluorosis in Bartlett.

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