title: Finn Brudevold: discovery of acidulated phosphate fluoride in caries prevention.
abstract: Finn Brudevold was a distinguished leader in dental research, recipient of many honors, and a Past President of IADR. This article traces his scientific career and focuses on his discovery and development of acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) for practical use in caries prevention. Brudevold noticed that the low pH of stannous fluoride was very effective in getting fluoride into enamel in vitro. He hypothesized that an acidulated preparation that included phosphate to minimize enamel dissolution by a common ion effect would permit faster exchange of hydroxyls with fluoride. The clinical efficacy of APF is compared with other methods of professionally applied topical fluoride agents.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0650, USA. enewbrun@gmail.com
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Newbrun
mesh_terms: D000149:Acidulated Phosphate Fluoride / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018865:Dental Research / Q000266:history*; D005460:Fluorides, Topical / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway; D011313:Preventive Dentistry / Q000266:history; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D005460:Fluorides, Topical; D000149:Acidulated Phosphate Fluoride