[History of fluoride prevention: successes and problems (literature review)]. / A fluoridprevenció története: sikerek és problémák (irodalmi áttekintés).

Fluoride prevention has a significant role in complex caries prevention, together with the appropriate diet and oral hygiene. The aim of the present review is--considering mainly the public health aspects--to give information on changes of the methods of fluoride prevention, and the changing views on pathomechanisms, as well as statements in the course of the last 50 years, based on present scientific evidence. The first great breakthrough in caries prevention was the introduction of water fluoridation between 1945-1950 in the USA and Canada. The measure was adopted in other countries and resulted in significant caries reduction. In the fifties and sixties fluoride tablets were widely used in many countries and brought good results, mainly in well-controlled smaller communities. Salt fluoridation has been initiated in Switzerland in 1955, and introduced in numerous countries in the eighties. The concept of a strong protective systemic effect of fluorides in the early eighties gave place to ideas on mainly topical effects, playing a decisive role in toothpastes, gels, acting topically on the enamel of the erupted teeth. Therefore many water fluoridation projects, mainly in Central- and Eastern Europe--where the prevalence of dental caries is still very high--were cancelled after 1990. Tablet fluoridation became questionable due to the fear of the possibility of dental fluorosis. Recent scientific views, however, confirmed a weak pre-, and peri-eruptive, as well as a strong posteruptive effect of systemically applied fluorides. In countries where caries prevalence is high, but the majority of the population cannot afford fluoridated toothpastes due to low socio-economic conditions, the introduction and extension of salt fluoridation to the whole population is well founded and recommended from a public health view.

Evolución de la fluoruración como medida para prevenir la caries dental / Evolution of fluoridation as a measure for preventing dental caries

Desde finales del siglo XIX se reportan los primeros casos con «dientes negros¼ o «esmalte moteado¼, pero no es hasta las décadas del 30 y 40 del siglo XX que se asocian a la presencia de flúor en el agua y a su vez a la menor prevalencia de caries en la población, por lo que se recomienda en los años 50 por la OMS, la utilización de los fluoruros para prevenir la caries dental. Se expone información referente al desarrollo histórico que ha tenido la fluoruración del agua y de la sal en el mundo y en Cuba, así como las principales formas de utilización de los fluoruros para prevenir la caries dental(AU)

A Victorian physician ahead of his time. The story of fluorine advocate Sir James Crichton-Browne.

Sir James Crichton-Browne, one of England's most renowned psychiatrists, whose career spanned two centuries, had very strong feelings about the need to secure proper dental care for all the children of his country. He translated these feelings into action when he advocated that fluorine be added to the diets of pregnant women and children. And this was almost a half-century before definitive research showed the value of fluorine as a preventive of caries.

Successes and drawbacks in the caries-preventive use of fluorides--lessons to be learnt from history.

Water fluoridation was the first breakthrough in the practice of preventive cariology on a community level and has remained one of the cornerstones of prevention in dentistry. The concepts regarding the mechanisms of the caries-inhibitory effect, however, have changed in several respects. Today there is general agreement that topical effects on the erupted enamel are most important. The contention that there is no pre-eruptive effect whatsoever has created confusion; there is in fact evidence for a minor pre-eruptive protective effect. Around 1980 many experts believed that fluorides should not be used in high concentrations, for instance above those in dentifrices, because this could block remineralisation in the body of pre-cavity lesions. However, it is now known that such undesirable effects are negligible or non-existent. In the fifties and sixties, fluoride tablets were widely used in Europe and helped to make the concept of caries prevention popular. From 1980 onwards, fluoride dentifrices were found to have a much greater impact and were recognized as being able to lead to a decline of caries prevalence in entire countries, and fluoride tablets gradually lost their importance. Antifluoridationists were unable to delay or hinder the widespread use of fluoride toothpastes but in many cases have successfully opposed public health measures such as fluoridation of water or of salt. The spread of these methods, beneficial for all social strata, might have been more rapid if some of the experts had not propounded the erroneous supposition that fluoride dentifrice will be sufficient for caries prevention. Sale of fluoridated salt has been authorized in several countries on a nationwide scale. However, only Latin American countries have introduced salt fluoridation for entire populations. In Central and Eastern Europe where caries prevalence continues to be high and where the level of usage of topical fluorides including dentifrices will presumably remain at a low level for many years, salt fluoridation would be beneficial.

From vulcanite to vinyl, a history of resins in restorative dentistry.

This article provides historical background on the development of resin-based dental restorative materials. With an understanding of the evolution of these materials, clinicians can better appreciate both the complexity of and similarities among the wide variety of resins and polymerization techniques available today. Common problems associated with the use of resin-based materials are explained, and more advanced resin-based systems currently under development are briefly reviewed.

[Studies on organofluorine compounds: an overview of our 30 years].

This review article covers our research activities over 30 years in organofluorine chemistry. The followings are briefly summarized researches in this memorandum: (1) Trifluoromethylation of organic halides with trifluoromethyl copper complex and its application to trifluoromethylated nucleosides, (2) a systematic study on reactivity of aromatic trifluoromethyl compounds, (3) valence bond isomers of aromatic compounds stabilized by the trifluoromethyl groups, and (4) synthesis of fluorinated bioactive compounds which involve vitamin D3, arachidonic acid and its metabolites, and retinal.

Overview of the history and current status of fluoride supplementation schedules.

Clinical trials of dietary fluoride supplements began in the 1940s in an effort to bring the benefits of fluoride to those who did not receive it through their drinking water. Following the early success of these trials, the Council on Dental Therapeutics of the American Dental Association (ADA) published its first recommendations for fluoride supplementation in 1958. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) followed with its own recommendations in 1972. During the 1970s a variety of alternative schedules appeared in the literature, most in reaction to the findings of unexpectedly high levels of enamel fluorosis in children being supplemented with the AAP schedule. In 1979 the ADA and AAP agreed on essentially identical schedules. During the 1980s, however, the prevalence of enamel fluorosis continued to increase, and fluoride supplements were found in some studies to be a risk factor for fluorosis. This finding prompted another round of dosage schedule recommendations in the early 1990s. This paper presents a history of fluoride dosage recommendations and reviews the recent proposals for reducing supplement dosage.

Dr. Basil Bibby: early fluoride investigator and intellectual provocateur.

Dr. Basil Bibby assumed many roles during his productive career as a researcher, teacher, and administrator. Although best known for his research on oral microbiology and on foodstuff as it relates to dental caries, and for fostering the careers of many distinguished researchers, he played an important generative role in determining the local cariostatic effects of fluoride. His seminal work in this area has not received its due because of the mixed success of his initial clinical studies. We hope that a review of his contributions in this area will bring those contributions into focus and illustrate his open personality and multi-dimensional approach to research.

¿Qué es el flúor? / What is fluoride?

Para aplicar los fluoruros hay que conocerlos. Por eso hemos descripto, en apretada síntesis, sus principipales características que son: fuentes naturales, artificiales, su historia, su comportamiento químico, cadena alimenticia y propiedades biológicas

¿Qué es el flúor? / What is fluoride?

Para aplicar los fluoruros hay que conocerlos. Por eso hemos descripto, en apretada síntesis, sus principipales características que son: fuentes naturales, artificiales, su historia, su comportamiento químico, cadena alimenticia y propiedades biológicas (AU)

Centenary year of scientific papers in the British Dental Journal.

N J Ainsworth, in his paper on mottled teeth, published in 1933, was the first person in the UK responsible for identifying the presence of fluoride in water supplies and quantifying the amount of caries in areas with mottled teeth. As well as a brief summary of the paper by Mike Grace, John Murray writes a critical examination of this landmark paper.

Fluoride concentration in ancient teeth measured by nuclear reaction.

Fluoride content in the enamel and dentine of ancient teeth has been measured using a nuclear analysis technique. Analysed teeth were found in a vast necropolis of Sicily (Italy) which is archeologically datable between the 13th and the 8th century B.C. Measurements gave high fluoride concentrations, of the order of 10 mg per gram of hydroxyapatite, comparable with the content of fluorotic teeth of patients living nowadays in regions rich in fluorinated drinking water. Results suggest that the dental caries process was probably unknown to the tribal population living in this geographical area.

NIDR--40 years of research advances in dental health.

The National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) was created by President Harry S Truman on June 24, 1948, as the third of the National Institutes of Health. NIDR's legislation contained the mandate to conduct research and research training to improve oral health. An impetus for federally funded dental research was the finding in World War II that the major cause of rejection for military service was missing teeth. Because of the population's widespread tooth decay problems, early NIDR research focused on eliminating dental caries. NIDR scientists confirmed the safety and effectiveness of the use of fluoride in tooth decay prevention, leading to one of the nation's most successful public health efforts, community water fluoridation. During the past 40 years, NIDR scientists have provided research advances and fostered technologies which changed the philosophy and practice of dentistry and brought dental sciences into the mainstream of biomedical research. Dental researchers contribute to studies of such diseases and problems as AIDS, cancer, arthritis, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, herpes, craniofacial anomalies, pain, and bone and joint disorders. NIDR's 40th anniversary in 1988 recognizes its continuing commitment to oral disease prevention and health research, and to achieving the goal of people maintaining their natural dentition for a lifetime.