Question:hard
All of the following are true statements regarding the use of sodium fluoride in the treatment of otosclerosis EXCEPT:
All of the following are true statements regarding the use of sodium fluoride in the treatment of otosclerosis EXCEPT:
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Fluoride hardens spongy bone by favouring osteoblasts; the osteoblast inhibition claim is the false one.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- It inhibits osteoblastic activity
- It is used in the active phase of otosclerosis when the Schwartze sign is positive
- It has an antienzymatic action on proteolytic enzymes toxic to the cochlea
- It is contraindicated in renal failure patients
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
This question hinges on knowing exactly what fluoride does to bone turnover in otosclerosis. The disease starts as soft, vascular, spongy bone; the therapeutic aim of sodium fluoride is to harden it into mature, inactive bone. To do that the drug pushes bone forming activity and curbs bone resorbing activity.
Reading the four lines as true or false: saying the drug inhibits osteoblastic activity contradicts its actual mechanism, because it supports osteoblasts and suppresses osteoclasts. Since the stem wants the odd one out, this contradictory line is the one to pick.
The other three lines are accurate. Treatment is timed to the active, vascular phase flagged by a pink promontory glow known as the Schwartze sign. Fluoride also blunts the destructive proteolytic enzymes that threaten the cochlea. And because the kidney clears fluoride, renal failure makes its use unsafe. Therefore the incorrect statement is the claim that it inhibits osteoblastic activity.
\[\boxed{\text{It inhibits osteoblastic activity}}\]
Reading the four lines as true or false: saying the drug inhibits osteoblastic activity contradicts its actual mechanism, because it supports osteoblasts and suppresses osteoclasts. Since the stem wants the odd one out, this contradictory line is the one to pick.
The other three lines are accurate. Treatment is timed to the active, vascular phase flagged by a pink promontory glow known as the Schwartze sign. Fluoride also blunts the destructive proteolytic enzymes that threaten the cochlea. And because the kidney clears fluoride, renal failure makes its use unsafe. Therefore the incorrect statement is the claim that it inhibits osteoblastic activity.
\[\boxed{\text{It inhibits osteoblastic activity}}\]
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