1Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology, NIMS Dental College, Jaipur
2Senior Lecturer, Department of Periodontics, Rajasthan Dental College, Jaipur
3Senior Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics, NIMS Dental College, Jaipur
4Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Surgery, Jaipur Dental College, Jaipur
5Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Pathology, Jaipur Dental College, Jaipur
6Senior Lecturer, Department of Conservative Dentistry, NIMS Dental College, Jaipur, Rajasthan
7Senior Lecturer, Department of Orthodontics, NIMS Dental College, Jaipur, Rajasthan
Online published on 7 August, 2013.
Dental fluorosis which is characterized by discolored, blackened, mottled or chalky-white teeth is a clear indication of overexposure to fluoride during childhood when the teeth were developing. These effects are not apparent if the teeth were fully grown prior to the fluoride overexposure, therefore the fact that an adult may show no signs of dental fluorosis does not necessarily mean that his or her fluoride intake is within the safety limit.
Chronic intake of excessive fluoride can lead to severe and permanent bone and joint deformations of skeletal fluorosis. Early symptoms include sporadic pain and stiffness of joints, headache, stomachache and muscle weakness can also be warning signs. The next stage is osteo-sclerosis (hardening and calcifying of the bones) and finally the spine, major joints, muscles and nervous system are damaged.
Dental and skeletal fluorosis is irreversible and no treatment exists for these conditions, hence only remedy is prevention by keeping fluoride intake within safe limits.
Fluoride, Dental Fluorosis, Skeletal Fluorosis, Rajasthan
