CROBM CROBM & JDR Merger
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by ten Cate, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Featherstone, J. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by ten Cate, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Featherstone, J. D.

Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine, Vol 2, 283-296, Copyright © 1991 by International & American Associations for Dental Research

ARTICLES

Mechanistic aspects of the interactions between fluoride and dental enamel

J. M. ten Cate and J. D. Featherstone
Department of Cariology and Endodontology, Academic Centre for Dentistry, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

For many years after the discovery of its caries preventive effect, fluoride was thought to be primarily active by lowering the solubility of the apatitic mineral phase of the dental hard tissues. Recent findings have shed new light on the mechanisms by which fluoride inhibits or delays dental caries. Fluoride present in the oral fluids alters the rate of the naturally occurring dissolution and reprecipitation processes at the tooth-oral fluid interface. Demineralization of enamel is inhibited by concentrations of fluoride in the sub-ppm range. Likewise, remineralization of incipient caries lesions (the earliest stage of enamel caries) is accelerated by trace amounts of fluoride. As these two processes comprise dental caries the physiological balance between hard tissue breakdown and repair is favorably shifted by fluoride. The driving force for both phenomena is thermodynamic, that is, fluorapatite or a fluoridated hydroxyapatite may form when fluoride is supplied at low concentrations. This article critically reviews the current information about tooth-fluoride interactions, both from laboratory and clinical studies.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Dent. Res.Home page
S. Toda and J.D. Featherstone
Effects of Fluoride Dentifrices on Enamel Lesion Formation
J. Dent. Res., March 1, 2008; 87(3): 224 - 227.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Dent. Res.Home page
J.D.B. Featherstone
The Continuum of Dental Caries--Evidence for a Dynamic Disease Process
J. Dent. Res., July 1, 2004; 83(suppl_1): C39 - C42.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Crit. Rev. Oral Biol. Med.Home page
T. Aoba and O. Fejerskov
DENTAL FLUOROSIS: CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY
Crit. Rev. Oral. Biol. Med., March 1, 2002; 13(2): 155 - 170.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Journal of the American Dental AssociationHome page
J. D.B. FEATHERSTONE
THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CARIES PREVENTION
J Am Dent Assoc, July 1, 2000; 131(7): 887 - 899.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
IADR Journals Advances in Dental Research ®
Journal of Dental Research ® Critical Reviews (1990-2004)
Copyright © 1991 Institutional Access Guidelines