Twenty patients with osteogenesis imperfecta (seven with congenita and 13 with tarda type) aged between 15 days and 8 years were treated with sodium fluoride for periods of from 6 months to 8 years. Effects of treatment were evaluated on the basis of clinical improvement (disappearance of crying, increase in overall activity and absence of new fractures) and radiological changes (increase in bone density, thickness of cortical bones, regularity of the contours of the secondary ossification centers in the epiphysis).

All the patients demonstrated good clinical improvement regardless of the clinical type of the disease. Radiologically 90% of the patients showed slight to marked improvements. No serious side effects were encountered in any of the patients.

Keywords: fluoride treatment, osteogenesis imperfecta