Osseous Development in the Hand as an Index of Skeletal Development

Effect of Fluoride in Drinking Water on the Osseous Development of the Hand and Wrist in Children

“…In the ages 7 through 14, each series contained a standard of osseous development in the hand at 6-month intervals. Similar standards are available in the publications of Flory (19),Todd (20) (20) found that assessment of skeletal maturity from the hand was accurate to 6 months and associated with a reliability coefficient of 0.9.…”

“…Similar quantitative indexes and norms of skeletal development were produced by Carter (24) and Kelly (25). The Carter (24) method, used in the present study, has been applied successfully in general growth (19) and nutritional (26,27) Children selected for radiography had histories of continuous residence in the communities and continuous consumption of the local drinking water. This information was obtained by means of a questionnaire completed and signed by parents.…”

“…An X-ray picture showing the right hand and wrist of each child in the study was made in the school using portable equipment and a standard technique (19). This radiograph was produced on 5-inch x 7-inch no-screen film in a cardboard holder with 10 milliampere-seconds exposure, 70 peak kilovolts output, and 32-inch target-film distance.…”

Urinary Excretion of Fluoride following Defluoridation of a Water Supply

“…The urinary excretion of fluoride was determined in children, ages [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The urinary fluoride values during the period were considerably higher than would be expected for a corresponding group with no prior exposure to high levels of fluoride; These values indicate that previously stored fluoride was being mobilized. There was no apparent relation between age and urinary fluoride excretion within either group.…”

Appraisal of Nutritional Status

“…In order to describe the developmental status and developmental progress of a group of children, it is necessary that these stages of skeletal change be placed in a series, of which each film represents a successive step in skeletal maturation. A number of such series have been described, among them those of Rotch (1907), Hellman (1928), Shelton (1931), Flory (1936, and Todd (1937). Todd's Atlas of Skeletal Maturation.…”