Author: Journal of the American Dental Association.

Source: Journal of the American Dental Association.

Year: 1944

Comment:

Abstract / Excerpt:

We do know the use of drinking water containing as little as 1.2 to 3.0 parts per million of fluorine will cause such developmental disturbances in bones as osteosclerosis, spondylosis, and osteopetrosis, as well as goiter, and we cannot afford to run the risk of producing such serious systemic disturbances in applying what is at present a doubtful procedure intended to prevent development of dental disfigurements among children.  […]  Because of our anxiety to find some therapeutic procedure that will promote mass prevention of caries, the seeming potentialities of fluorine appear speculatively attractive, but, in the light of our present knowledge or lack of knowledge of the chemistry of the subject, the potentialities for harm far outweigh those for good.

Citation: Journal of the American Dental Association. The effect of fluorine on dental caries [editorial]. Journal of the American Dental Association. 1944; 31:1360-3.