Changing the structurally effective mineral content of bone with in vitro fluoride treatment.

Bovine femur cortical bone specimens were tested in tension after being treated in vitro for 3 days with sodium fluoride solutions of different molarity (0.145, 0.5, and 2.0M). The treatments alter the mechanical properties of the bone samples with different degrees as compared to control samples (untreated). The mechanical properties of the treated samples have lower elastic modulus, yield and ultimate stress, acoustic impedance and hardness, and higher ultimate strain and toughness as compared to control samples. The observed effects were intensified with the increasing molarity of the treatment solutions. This study shows that the fluoride treatment can be used to investigate the composite behavior of bone tissue by altering the structurally important bone mineral content in a controlled manner.