[Evaluation of the effects of various fluoride concentrations in drinking water and atmospheric air on permanent teeth eruption in children aged 12 years].

Dental age was evaluated in 382 children aged 12 +/- 6 years in four Silesian localities differing in the content of fluorine in drinking water and air: in Milicz--without fluoride, in Wroclaw where artificial Fluoridation of drinking water is conducted to levels regarded as optimal--from 0.8 to 1.2 mg/l, in Gryfów where the mean annual pollution of atmospheric air with fluorides was from 0.044 to 0.059 mg/m3 in Nysa where drinking water contains an excess of fluorides 4.0 to 7.0 mg/l. In the light of these studies fluoride was found to retard teeth age. The greater dose of fluorine is taken up by the organism in the period of development the longer is the retardation of dental age.