Fluoridated drinking water, oestrogen therapy and residual ridge resorption

Anamnestic and clinical investigations were made for 230 postmenopausal women to determine whether the alveolar height in edentulous jaws is associated with the time that the subjects have consumed artificially fluoridated drinking water. The duration of possible hormone replacement therapy was also considered. The results of the present study support those of previous studies which have shown that the effect of systemic factors dominates the final stage of residual ridge resorption. According to this study, artificially fluoridated water may also reduce the degree of residual ridge resorption, the impact of which first becomes manifest when most of the ridge has disappeared.