Taking care of your dental health can expose your teeth to excessive fluoride. This changes calcium, the function of the mitochondria and gene expression in the cells. However, there is a novel explanation for this, such as fluorosis, a condition caused by overexposureFluoride causes in childhoodbecomes, arises.
Maintain dental health and limit fluoride
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that helps prevent cavities in teeth by promoting mineralization and making tooth enamel more acid-resistant. People add it to drinking water around the world. However, health ministries recommend a level of 0.7 ppm.All toothpastes, which have a quality seal, contain fluoride. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named water fluoridation one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century because it helps reduce tooth decay.
While low levels of fluoride help strengthen and protect tooth enamel, too much of it can cause fluorosis. This is discoloration of the teeth, usually characterized by opaque white spots, lines or mottled enamel and poor mineralization. Fluorosis occurs when children are exposed to elevated levels of fluoride between birth and about nine years of age during this critical window when their teeth are forming. This can actually increase the risk of tooth decay. A survey found that around 25 percent of the population studied had some degree of fluorosis.
To investigate the molecular basis of fluorosis, researchers analyzed the effects of exposing tooth enamel to fluoride. They then evaluated the influence of fluoride on calcium in cells, as it plays a role in the mineralization of tooth enamel.
Research results
The scientists found that rodent tooth enamel exposed to fluoride resulted in calcium dysregulation. In addition, fluoride disrupted the function of mitochondria, which altered energy production. This gave researchers a promising mechanistic view of how fluorosis occurs. When the cells have to form heavily calcified enamel and continue to use calcium heavily due to too much fluoride, this is reflected in the enamel.
The researchers repeated the experimentStudythen with early-stage human kidney cells. However, they did not observe the same effects as when they treated the kidney cells with fluoride. This suggests that cells from tooth enamel are different from others that form tissues in other parts of the body.
