Abstract

The most consistent and the best characterized toxic response to fluoride is its effect on the human skeleton, as 99% of the ingested fluoride in the human body gets stored in bones. The highly vascularized soft tissues and blood store the remaining fluoride. Once absorbed, the fluoride gets readily accommodated in the active, growing, and cancellous areas than in compact regions. The concentration of fluoride stored in various bones of the same skeleton differs with the type of bones. The pelvis accumulates higher fluoride than the limb bones; young and cancellous bones are more receptive to fluoride than old or cortical bones. Though factors such as sex, age, and type and specific part of the bone influence the concentration of fluoride in bones, fluoride accumulation gets slower with age and reaches an “equilibrium” effect after about 50 years of age.^1,2