Fluoride Toxicity

The use of fluorides has been demonstrated to be one of the most successful measures in public health history. Fluoride has been recognized as the central component in strategies to prevent dental caries, a disease that has major health, economic, and social effects on communities world wide .Fluoride is being used widely on a global scale. There are some undesirable side effects, however, that can accompany the desirable outcome of reduced caries in the community. It is involved in chronic and acute fluorosis. Chronic side effects are found in mineralized tissues, leading to dental or skeletal fluorosis, depending on the dose. A number of biological effects have been ascribed to fluorosis. Although many reports of such effects are unsubstantiated, several have been studied sufficiently to deserve careful summarization including the effects on bone, teeth, kidney, thyroid, neurological functions and growth in general.