Fluoride in the Surface Enamel of Unerupted Teeth

¹ Laboratory of Oral Chemistry and Fluoride Research and Department of Anaesthesia and Oral Surgery, The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel

The surface enamel layer of 72 unerupted third molars with completely and incompletely developed roots, extracted from patients 10 to 40 years old, were analyzed for fluoride.

The mean fluoride contents of the different surface enamel layers varied between 59.2 and 141.7 ppm. The mean fluoride values of the surface enamel layers of the teeth with completely developed roots were significantly higher as compared with those of the corresponding surfaces of the teeth with incompletely developed roots in the group 26 to 40 years of age. The difference between the mean fluoride values of the buccal and lingual or between the mesial and distal surface enamel layers was not significant. The mean fluoride contents of the buccal-lingual surface enamel layers of teeth with completely or incompletely developed roots were higher in both age groups as compared with those of the mesial-distal surfaces. Additional evidence was provided for a lower fluorapatite content in mesialdistal enamel surfaces.