Dental fluorosis

A fluorosis caused by excessive fluoride intake. The resulting tooth discoloration called dental fluorosis or fluorosis.

Dental fluorosis

Dental fluorosis, also called dental fluorosis, caused by excessive fluoride intake during tooth development.

While fluoride is considered at a dosage of about 1 mg / day as an effective means of preventing tooth decay ( fluoridation ), it generates higher doses of dental fluorosis in the form white to brown discoloration in the form of spots or stripes on the enamel surface. Occasionally, the entire tooth surface is chalky white (matt) discolored and brown discoloration interspersed ( " Colorado Brown Stain " or " Texas Teeth" ). In more severe cases, this is not only unsightly, but also harmful to the teeth because the enamel surface thus becomes less resilient.

Knochenfluorose ( skeletal fluorosis )

If more than 20 mg per day was added, also react with bone designs of a hardened and compacted cancellous bone and some thickening of the cortex (outer bone layer). Through this bone augmentation elasticity is lost and the bone will be less resilient and more brittle. Under certain circumstances, the joints stiffen through the bone proliferation. The spine can completely ankylosed ( stiffened ). This disease was first observed in workers in the Kryolithverarbeitung (eg in the production of aluminum ), then also in cattle fed on green fodder by dust from chimneys fluoride -processing factories. Since the late thirties skeletal fluorosis has been described also in India and Bahrain, in places whose drinking water 1 mg fluoride per liter ( and more) contain. The phenomenon occurs here because of the higher water consumption (weather permitting) at relatively low fluoride concentrations of water on.

Acute fluorosis

Symptoms of acute fluoride poisoning include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and paresthesia.

As a possible toxic dose ( Probably Toxic Dose; PTD ) is given a value of 5 mg of fluoride per kilogram of body weight. The PTD is the fluoride concentration which can produce symptoms of poisoning. This corresponds to a person who weighs 70 kg and 350 mg of fluoride (about 3-4 toothpaste tubes, and a tube of dental gel as elmex gel ). The safe toxic dose ( Certainly Toxic Dose; CTD) is 32-64 mg of fluoride per kilogram of body weight.

Acute fluoride poisoning (sometimes fatal) have been observed in children, especially after unsupervised intake of fluoride tablets or by ingestion ( instead of rinsing and spitting out ) of the applied in the dental practice highly concentrated fluoride gels.