Age-specific fluoride exposure in drinking water and osteosarcoma (United States)
METHODS: We used data from a matched case-control study conducted through 11 hospitals in the United States that included a complete residential history for each patient and type of drinking water (public, private well, bottled) used at each address. Our analysis was limited to cases less than 20 years old. We standardized fluoride exposure estimates based on CDC-recommended target levels that take climate into account. We categorized exposure into three groups (<30%, 30-99%, >99% of target) and used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios.
Read more: Age-specific fluoride exposure in drinking water and osteosarcoma (United States)
The issues related to fluoridation of water or fortification of toothpaste with compounds of fluorides are controversial. Fluoride is stored mainly in the bones, where it increases the density and changes the internal architecture, makes it osteoporotic and more prone to fractures. Fluoride consumption by human beings increases the general cancer death rate, disrupts the synthesis of collagen and leads to the breakdown of collagen in bone, tendon, muscle, skin, cartilage, lungs, kidney and trachea, causing a disruptive effect on various tissues in the body. It inhibits antibody formation, disturbs immune system and makes the child prone to malignancy. Fluoride has been categorized as a protoplasmic poison and any additional ingestion of fluoride by children is undesirable.
The prevalence of enamel mottling in optimal and low fluoride areas of the West Midlands was studied in March 1989 using the Al-Alousi index and the TF index. A total of 600 children aged 8-10 years, in three groups of 200 each, formed the study group. Significantly more mottling was found in the optimal fluoride area, according to both indices, although the TF index demonstrated the difference more clearly. The social class had no effect on the prevalence of mottling in the optimal fluoride area. 
Consequences for systemic application of fluoride.
Endemic skeletal fluorosis is a chronic metabolic bone and joint disease caused by ingesting large amounts of fluoride either through water or rarely from foods of endemic areas. Fluoride is a cumulative toxin which can alter accretion and resorption of bone tissue. It also affects the homeostasis of bone mineral metabolism. The total quantity of ingested fluoride is the single most important factor which determines the clinical course of the disease which is characterized by immobilization of joints of the axial skeleton and of the major joints of the extremities.