Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Mar:46:42-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.jdent.2016.01.007. Epub 2016 Jan 22.

Relationship between enamel fluorosis severity and fluoride content

Esperanza A Martinez-Mier  1 , Devin B Shone  2 , Christine M Buckley  3 , Masatoshi Ando  4 , Frank Lippert  5 , Armando E Soto-Rojas  4
Affiliations

Relationship between enamel fluorosis severity and fluoride content

Esperanza A Martinez-Mier et al. J Dent. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: Enamel fluorosis is a hypomineralization caused by chronic exposure to high levels of fluoride during tooth development. Previous research on the relationship between enamel fluoride content and fluorosis severity has been equivocal. The current study aimed at comparing visually and histologically assessed fluorosis severity with enamel fluoride content.

Methods: Extracted teeth (n=112) were visually examined using the Thylstrup and Fejerskov Index for fluorosis. Eruption status of each tooth was noted. Teeth were cut into 100 μm slices to assess histological changes with polarized light microscopy. Teeth were categorized as sound, mild, moderate, or severe fluorosis, visually and histologically. They were cut into squares (2 × 2 mm) for the determination of fluoride content (microbiopsy) at depths of 30, 60 and 90 μm from the external surface.

Results: Erupted teeth with severe fluorosis had significantly greater mean fluoride content at 30, 60 and 90 μm than sound teeth. Unerupted teeth with mild, moderate and severe fluorosis had significantly greater mean fluoride content than sound teeth at 30 μm; unerupted teeth with mild and severe fluorosis had significantly greater mean fluoride content than sound teeth at 60 μm, while only unerupted teeth severe fluorosis had significantly greater mean fluoride content than sound teeth at 90 μm.

Conclusions: Both erupted and unerupted severely fluorosed teeth presented higher mean enamel fluoride content than sound teeth.

Clinical significance: Data on fluoride content in enamel will further our understanding of its biological characteristics which play a role in the management of hard tissue diseases and conditions.

Keywords: Dental Enamel; Enamel fluorosis; Fluoride.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interests

No potential conflicts of interest are reported for any of the authors.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean fluoride content with standard deviations as a function of microbiopsy depth for each TFI group based on visual analysis for erupted teeth
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean fluoride content with standard deviations as a function of microbiopsy depth for each TFI group based on visual analysis for unerupted teeth
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Den Besten PK. Dental fluorosis: its uses as a biomarker. Advances in Dental Research. 1994;8:105–10. - PubMed
    1. Vieira APGF, Hancock R, Eggertson H, Everett ET, Grynpas MD. Tooth quality in dental fluorosis: genetic and environmental factors. Calcified Tissue International. 2005;76:17–25. - PubMed
    1. Aoba T, Fejerskov O. Dental fluorosis: chemistry and biology. Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine. 2002;13:155–70. - PubMed
    1. Beltran-Aguilar ED, Griffin S, Lockwood S. Prevalence and trends in enamel fluorosis in the United States from the 1930s to the 1980s. Journal of the American Dental Association. 2002;133:157–65. - PubMed
    1. Beltran-Aguilar ED, Barker LK, Canto MT, Dye BA, Gooch BF, Griffin SO, et al. Surveillance for dental caries, dental sealants, tooth retention, edentulism, and enamel fluorosis-United States, 1988–1994 and 1999–2002. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summaries. 2005;54:1–43. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources