Fluorosis- Multifactorial Etiology and Multiple Risk Factors

Fluorides have been, since long, known to be the cornerstone of preventive dentistry. Fluoride has been widely used globally, for the most part with great benefits. The decline in prevalence of dental caries in the western world is largely ascribed to the protective role of fluoride in water. However, in several Third World countries, its presence in excessive amounts has been detrimental to the health of resident communities due to the resulting endemic dental and skeletal fluorosis. Fluorosis, dental or skeletal, is a disease with social, emotional, economic and psychological impacts. It has affected people of all age groups across all the nations. Myriad of risk factors have been reported in the literature. These risk factors are not present universally but a group of them in various permutations and combinations have been observed in most of the countries. This book provides a comprehensive and exhaustive literature review on the risk factors of fluorosis across the world with special context to Indian subcontinent. I sincerely hope this book will be of help to all the clinicians, academicians and researchers and students in their quest for knowledge.