A team of scientists from China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, has recently demonstrated that “hydrogen fluoride is the prior releasing form of fluorine in long-term air-exposed coal under combustion and mild heating.” Professor Handong Liang and his team proved that it may change current understanding of the cause and prevailing mechanism of coal burning endemic fluorosis.
"The unique chemical and physical property of hydrogen fluoride may bring new insight into the pathogenic mechanism of coal burning endemic fluorosis, or even change the current understanding fundamentally," explains Prof. Liang.
Certain amounts of fluorine ingestion can help prevent tooth decay, long term immoderate intake may however, lead to dental fluorosis and oseteofluorosis.
“Drinking water fluorosis is the most common type of fluorosis and has been intensively studied, the pathogen of which has been identified as high content of dissolved fluorine ion (F-) in groundwater, and the pathogenic pathway is the assimilation of fluorine ion through human digestive system. Another type of fluorosis, coal burning endemic fluorosis, caused by indoor domestic use of high fluorine coal and prevailing in thirteen provinces in South China, however, was first reported in 1946 and its pathogeny is yet not fully understood,” says the study.
As a new dentist in Melbourne, this is very interesting for me. I use fluoride for my patient's teeth and I could regulate it better now because I learned about this.
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