Evanston Dental Caries Study

22. A Study of Fluoride Deposition in Bone

¹ Evanston Dental Caries Study, Evanston Health Department, Evanston, Illinois

From the results collected so far and from the previous findings of other workers in the field, we can conclude that the fluoride deposition in the iliac crest increases with the increment of age and time of exposure but that this increase is not a simple function of time only. The variations in this function can probably be attributed to some extent to the dietary habits of the subjects under consideration and to the effects of renal malfunctions on the level of fluoride accumulation in bone. From our results collected so far, it seems likely that the fluoride deposition in bone proceeds fairly rapidly during the first 5-9 years of fluoridation. In the following years it appears that this accumulation of fluoride occurs at a much slower rate, if at all. An age-wise comparison of the data shows that at practically the same period of time of exposure to fluoridation, there is a rapid increase in the level of fluoride concentration in bone up to the age of 60-69, after which there is a tendency for this trend in accumulation of fluoride to level off or proceed at a much slower rate.