Researchers find shark teeth made of natural fluoride

Friday, July 27, 2012 - 08:31 in Biology & Nature

(Phys.org) -- German researchers studying shark teeth have found at least two species that have fluorinated calcium phosphate - mineral fluoroapatite, as a main component, one of the main ingredients in toothpaste, which partly explains why sharks don’t ever get cavities. The researchers looked at Isurus oxyrinchus and Galeocerdo cuvier (mako and tiger sharks) and found, as they explain in their paper published in the Journal of Structural Biology, after very close examination, that the outer coating of the shark teeth contained one hundred percent fluoride.

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