Fluoride concentration in human fetal enamel.

Abstract

The fluoride distribution was determined along the developing human fetal enamel of 7 maxillary first incisors taken from fetuses aged 5–9 months. The fluoride concentration in the enamel from teeth of fetuses aged 5–8 months, which contained only forming enamel was higher in the youngest enamel near the cervical margin than in the earliest formed enamel at the incisal tip. In the developing enamel from the teeth of the 9-month-old fetuses, however, after the initial decrease in fluoride concentration from the cervical margin towards the border between the forming stage and the maturing stage, there was a rise in fluoride concentration as the forming enamel began to rapidly mineralize to become maturing enamel. This pattern seems analogous in the comparable stages of enamel development to that previously observed in developing enamel from teeth of experimental animals.