Stoichiometry of fluoride release from fluorhydroxyapatite during acid dissolution.

Release of F from fluorhydroxyapatite (FHAp) during acid dissolution was studied to validate the use of this mineral as a plaque reservoir of F. FHAp minerals having a wide range of F concentrations were synthesised by aqueous precipitation, and samples repeatedly exposed to 50 mM lactic acid solution, pH 4.5, or similar lactic/acetic/formic acid mixtures, until dissolution was complete. While the Ca/P ratio in solution remained relatively constant and close to the ratio in the solid, the solution F/Ca ratio invariably changed during dissolution. During initial stages the F/Ca solution ratio was lower than in the solid but rose to reach a plateau higher than in the solid as dissolution progressed, an effect that was more pronounced with low-F FHAp. With these minerals the plateau F/Ca level never reached 0.2, suggesting that a F-enriched FHAp rather than pure fluorapatite precipitates during dissolution. It is concluded that a high-F FHAp mineral would best serve as an apatitic plaque reservoir of F.