Abstract
ACCORDING to Leon Williams1 ” mottled enamel is an endemic dystrophy of this tissue. The teeth are characterised by a dead white and milky appearance which is varied by brown and yellowish spots and bands”. Fluorine in the drinking water is now known to be the cause of mottled teeth. That such low concentrations as one part per million can be effective is remarkable2. Fluorine from chemical works or resulting from volcanic activity can get into soil and pasture and cause fluorosis in cattle3.
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References
Leon Williams, J. Dental Res., 5, 117 (1923).
Smith, Indust. and Eng. Chem., Anal. Ed., 7, 23 (1935).
Christiani and Gautier, C.R. Soc. Biol., 92, 139 (1925).
Ainsworth, Brit. Dent. J., 55, 233 (1933).
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BOWES, J., MURRAY, M. Natural Sources of Fluorine and Mottled Teeth in Maldon, Essex. Nature 137, 828 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137828b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137828b0
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