Fluorine is the world's 13th most abundant element and constitutes 0.08% of the Earth crust. It has the highest electronegativity of all elements. Fluoride is widely distributed in the environment, occurring in the air, soils, rocks, and water. Although fluoride is used industrially in a fluorine compound, the manufacture of ceramics, pesticides, aerosol propellants, refrigerants, glassware, an...

The decrease in the incidence of dental caries which follows the addition of fluoride to municipal water supplies has been attributed to the inhibition of enzyme reactions and of bacterial growth (2-4), and to a decrease in the solubility of bone salt. Evidence that fluoride decreases the solubility of bone salt consists of many reports which show, principally, that (a) a smaller amout of ename...

Sir, Ludlow et al. [1] only confirmed that our knowledge of the potential adverse effects of chronic low fluoride supplementation of drinking water on normal or diseased kidneys is insufficient. More than 60 years after water fluoridation, there is no high-level evidence as most published studies are small, have methological deficiencies or are otherwise flawed. There are two areas of concern r...

Groundwater samples collected either from the bore-wells (forms a part of municipal water supply) or from the hand pumps (direct consumption) were analysed for fluoride in Hisar city, India. The results indicate considerable variations among the analysed groundwater samples and the concentration of fluoride ranged from 0.03--16.6 mg/l. In most of the groundwater samples the concentration of flu...

A recent Cochrane review on water fluoridation found that the initiation of water fluoridation resulted in reductions in dmft of 1.81 (35%) and in DMFT of 1.16 (26%). There were also increases in the percentage of caries-free children (deciduous dentition: 15%, permanent dentition: 14%). However, the majority of the studies were conducted prior to 1975, and the widespread use of fluoride toothp...

The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis in all schoolchildren (ages 4 to 18 years, n = 259) from the town of Santa Tereza, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and to investigate associated factors. Data were obtained through a questionnaire and by means of clinical tests. Dean's index was used to determine fluorosis occurrence. Prevalence of fluorosi...

The objective of this study was to measure the effectiveness of fluoride varnish as a public health intervention to prevent caries on partially erupted first and second permanent molars among 6-11 year old children at high risk for caries. In a six-month clinical trial, 105 children were randomly divided into a fluoride varnish (Duraphat) group (117 molars) or a control group (117 molars). The ...

This paper reviews the scientific events culminating in the fluoridation of communal water supplies. Dental and medical studies completed by 1942 had established the safety and benefits of exposure to drinking water naturally containing fluoride. Researchers and public health workers concluded that it was possible to test the hypothesis that the dental benefits attained where fluoride levels ar...