Current Status of fluoride salts to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis

Fluoride has been used over the past 25 years as a potential treatment of established osteoporosis. Notwithstanding a consensus over its ability to stimulate bone formation, discrepant results were published relating to its antifracture efficacy. Differences in the published results are likely to be linked to therapeutic regimens, fluoride formulation, and the nature of the treated populations. A critical review of the published data evaluating the antifracture efficacy of fluoride leads to the conclusion that this substance should be mainly used in postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density without prevalent fracture, that low-dose fluoride for a prolonged period should be preferred to high doses for short-term treatment, and that gastroresistant preparations are likely to be better tolerated than fluoride.