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The “Sustainable Health” program hosts: Dr. Randa Adeeb, Head of the Dental Department at Al-Hakim Medical Center, Muscat, Oman, to present the following file: What is the effect of fluoride on dental health?
A recent study: Excessive exposure to fluoride damages tooth enamel
A new study conducted by a team of researchers from New York University Abu Dhabi and the New York University College of Dentistry revealed a new explanation behind cases of dental fluorosis, a condition in which white spots appear on the teeth and result from excessive exposure to fluoride during childhood. High levels of fluoride alter calcium signaling, mitochondrial function, and gene expression in the cells that make up tooth enamel.
The study, which was published in Science Signaling, a scientific journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was led by Rodrigo La Cruz, associate professor of basic sciences at the New York University School of Dentistry, in collaboration with a group of researchers. Tooth enamel exposed to high levels of fluoride, with the aim of studying the molecular bases of dental fluorosis cases, then they evaluated the effect of fluoride on intracellular calcium signaling due to the role of calcium in tooth enamel mineralization.
The researchers found that exposing the enamel cells of rodents’ teeth to fluoride led to a defect in the regulation of calcium, with a decrease in its entry and storage in the endoplasmic reticulum, which is a compartment located inside cells and has multiple functions, including calcium storage. Fluoride also disrupted the function of mitochondria (energy generators in cells), which affected the energy production process. Finally, RNA sequencing, which shows the functional output of the cells’ genes, revealed that in enamel cells exposed to fluoride, the gene coding for a stress-response protein in the ER, which in turn encodes mitochondrial proteins involved in the cell’s energy production, is overrepresented.
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