Role of Fluorine in dental health is the following EXCEPT
Ans. a. (To make enamel harder than usual) (Ref. Guyton physiology 11th/994, 879)Role of Fluorine in Preventing Caries. Teeth formed in children who drink water that contains small amounts of fluorine develop enamel that is more resistant to caries than the enamel in children who drink water that does not contain fluorine. Fluorine does not make the enamel harder than usual, but fluorine ions replace many of the hydroxyl ions in the hydroxyapatite crystals, which in turn makes the enamel several times less soluble. Fluorine may also be toxic to the bacteria. Finally, when small pits do develop in the enamel, fluorine is believed to promote deposition of calcium phosphate to "heal" the enamel surface. Regardless of the precise means by which fluorine protects the teeth, it is known that small amounts of fluorine deposited in enamel make teeth about three times as resistant to caries as teeth without fluorine.# Fluorine does not seem to be a necessary element for metabolism & it does not make the teeth themselves stronger but has a poorly understood effect in suppressing the cariogenic process.# Even though the mottled teeth are highly resistant to the development of caries, the structural strength of these teeth may be considerably lessened by the mottling process.
To make enamel harder than usual
To replace several hydroxyl ions in hydroxyapatite
To make enamel several times less soluble
To promote deposition of calcium phosphate to 'heal' pits in enamel surface
Misc.