Abstract

Exposure to fluoride in drinking water was studied for evidence of detrimental effects on skeletal calcification and bone development in children. Three groups of children aged 7 through 14 years, living in Lubbock and Amarillo, Tex., and Cumberland, Md., were selected on the basis of continuous exposure to their communal drinking waters, which contained fluoride in the amounts of 3.5 to 4.5 p.p.m. F, 3.3 to 6.2 p.p.m. F, and 0.1 p.p.m. F, respectively. Radiographs were taken of the right hand and wrist of 2,050 children. From these X-rays, the skeletal age was assessed and a quantitative index of ossification was determined.

No evidence, available by radiographs was obtained which would indicate that there was any adverse effect on the carpal bones or on their growth and development as a consequence of the continuous use of drinking water containing approximately 3.5 to 6.2 p.p.m. F. These results confirm the safety of maintaining the fluoride level of public water supplies at about 1.00 p.p.m. F, by controlled fluoridation, for the reduction of tooth decay.

• Related Studies :

  • Effect of slow-release sodium fluoride on cancellous bone histology and connectivity in osteoporosis

    We have previously demonstrated that a treatment regimen of slow-release sodium fluoride (SRNaF) and continuous calcium citrate increases lumbar bone mass, improves cancellous bone material quality, and significantly reduces vertebral fracture rate in osteoporotic patients. In order to assess whether such treatment also improves trabecular structure, we quantitated cancellous bone

  • Comparison of alendronate and sodium fluoride effects on cancellous and cortical bone in minipigs. A one-year study

    Fluoride stimulates trabecular bone formation, whereas bisphosphonates reduce bone resorption and turnover. Fracture prevention has not been convincingly demonstrated for either treatment so far. We compared the effects of 1-yr treatment of 9-mo-old minipigs with sodium fluoride (NaF, 2 mg/kg/d p.o.) or alendronate (ALN, 4 amino-1-hydroxybutylidene bisphosphonate monosodium, 1 mg/kg/d

  • The effects of fluoride on bone and implant histomorphometry in growing rats

    The effects of fluoride at concentrations of 2.0 and 4.5 mM in drinking water on growth rate, vitamin D, water and mineral metabolism, bone histomorphometry, and osteoinduction of demineralized allogenic bone matrix (DABM) were compared in the rat. Whereas fluoride did not influence fluid intake or growth rate at the

  • Abnormal bone mineralization after fluoride treatment in osteoporosis: a small-angle x-ray-scattering study

    Sodium fluoride treatment of osteoporosis is known to stimulate bone formation and to increase bone mass, but recent clinical trials failed to prove its antifracture effectiveness. The formation of bone with abnormal structure and, therefore, increased fragility is discussed as a possible explanation. Until now, however, exact information on the

  • Bone resorption and quantitative ultrasound in an endemic fluorosis area of Turkey.

    The purpose of this prospective study was to investigate the quantity and quality of bone by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements and to assess bone resorption by urinary excretion measurement of C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) in an adult Turkish population living in an endemic fluorosis area and consuming

• Related FAN Content :

  • Skeletal Fluorosis: The Misdiagnosis Problem

    It is a virtual certainty that there are individuals in the general population unknowingly suffering from some form of skeletal fluorosis as a result of a doctor's failure to consider fluoride as a cause of their symptoms. Proof that this is the case can be found in the following case reports of skeletal fluorosis written by doctors in the U.S. and other western countries. As can be seen, a consistent feature of these reports is that fluorosis patients--even those with crippling skeletal fluorosis--are misdiagnosed for years by multiple teams of doctors who routinely fail to consider fluoride as a possible cause of their disease.

  • "Pre-Skeletal" Fluorosis

    As demonstrated by the studies below, skeletal fluorosis may produce adverse symptoms, including arthritic pains, clinical osteoarthritis, gastrointestinal disturbances, and bone fragility, before the classic bone change of fluorosis (i.e., osteosclerosis in the spine and pelvis) is detectable by x-ray. Relying on x-rays, therefore, to diagnosis skeletal fluorosis will invariably fail to protect those individuals who are suffering from the pre-skeletal phase of the disease. Moreover, some individuals with clinical skeletal fluorosis will not develop an increase in bone density, let alone osteosclerosis, of the spine. Thus, relying on unusual increases in spinal bone density will under-detect the rate of skeletal fluoride poisoning in a population.

  • Fluoride & Osteoarthritis

    While the osteoarthritic effects that occurred from fluoride exposure were once considered to be limited to those with skeletal fluorosis, recent research shows that fluoride can cause osteoarthritis in the absence of traditionally defined fluorosis. Conventional methods used for detecting skeletal fluorosis, therefore, will fail to detect the full range of people suffering from fluoride-induced osteoarthritis.