Flouride. What's the deal with it in toothpaste? It is my understanding that after WW2 there was a surplus of flouride and one way to use it was to add it to toothpaste. Testing showed no reaction / toxicity in small amounts and now; we consume flouride not only in toothpaste but water etc.
Any information or thoughts on the actual danger of this?
Thanks,
Julie
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Toothpaste
I lean towards the "no flouride" side of the fence However, I have sensative teeth. When I tried a flouride free toothpaste, my teeth got extremely senstive. So much that just touching with the toothbrush and toothpaste hurt them. I switch to a sensative toothpsate, which had flouride, and they are much better.
Not a scientific study, but my experience :-). However, there may have been some other inconsistancies or it may just be something else in the toothpaste that was bugging me (no the omission of flouride). So I wouldn't say it was conclusive. I may play around again with a flouride free brand.
As for flouride in the water, I have well water and don't have to worry about it being supplimented.
I wouldn't give my kids roach poison in any amount!
This fluoride article I wrote this week cites studies that demonstrate how dangerous it can be (http://www.eco-babyz.com/2011/04/fluoride-what-every-mom-should-know.html). That's just the tip of the iceberg...
Flouride
Dr. Sherry Rogers, M.D., (a leading environmental medicine authority for more than twenty years), has provided all of us with the science about fluoride in our bodies. Please refer to her book DETOXIFY OR DIE to read about this toxin that is a halogen that is a potent enzyme inhibitor. Science:
1. Zhao LB, Liang GH, Zhang DN, Wu XR, Effect of a high fluoride water supply on children's intelligence, FLUORIDE, 29; 4: 191-92, Nov. 1996.
2. Yiamouyiannis J, Burk D, Fluoridation and cancer, age-dependence of cancer mortality related to artificial fluoridation, FLUORIDE, 10; 3:102-123, 1977.
3. Hoover, RN Devesa S, Cantor K, et al, Time trends for bone and joint cancers and osteosarcoma, appendix "F" in United States Public Health Service's REVIEW OF FLUORIDE BENEFITS AND RISKS, Feb 1991.
4. Cohn PD, Brief report on the association of drinking water fluoridation and the incidence of osteosarcoma among young males, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, Nov. 8,1992.
5. Yiamouyiannis J, Water fluoridation and tooth decay: Results from the 1986-1987 National Survey of U.S. school children, FLUORIDE 23; 2:55-57, 1990.
6. Foulkes RG, Fluoride brain damage: A secret revealed. ALIVE, CANADIAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH & NUTRITION, 191:67-68, 1998.
Completely Unnecessary
Fluoride only works on contact, not systemically. So, in toothpaste, the effect can be significant, but in water, unless you swish every sip around in your mouth, it just goes over the teeth and down your throat. @barbaraseide, the reason your mom could tell a difference between city kids and rural kids teeth was purely based on hygiene differences, and was surely not a scientific study, but merely her observations.
Fluoride is a potent toxin that is no longer needed. As a matter of fact, we don't need toothpaste at all. You can just brush your teeth to remove food particles and rinse with clean water. That "clean, minty taste" is just another product of the advertising industry (in which I work. Shhh!).
Why are we still the only industrialized nation that uses it? Easy answer, because our government is bought and sold by industry and lobbyists. We have lots of stuff we don't need, especially when it comes to our health.
Dental hygenists can tell the difference
I grew up in the unique situation of having the head of the local water dept as a father and a dental hygenist as an aunt. I distinctly recall discussions on flouride in the water supply wherein my aunt strongly asserted that she immediately could tell kids that were raised in local farming communities where well-water was used for drinking as their teeth were significantly less healthy than those raised in-town with the fluoridated water supply.
What is up with "Nursery Water"?
I saw a product marketed as bottled water for babies called "Nursery Water".
It boasted that it contained fluoride, and I thought to myself, "Huh, babies don't even have teeth. What could the fluoride be for?"
So I did some research, and turns out fluoride IS a bi-product of heavy metal manufacturing, and has extremely minor benefits to teeth, but is harmful to the rest of the body. And what do new babies need more than a metal bi-product in their tiny, immature digestive systems?
Fluoride in public drinking water? FAIL
Fluoride for babies? FAIL
Fluoride in toothpaste? Hmmm.... ?
I am a mother of three and
I am a mother of three and practicing family physician. I have used fluoridated toothpaste for my children since their first teeth erupted. I use a tiny smear on their brush, as I find that they don't spit effectively. Additionally, our family drinks tap water, not bottled water, because our city has optimal fluoride levels in the drinking water. Because there may also be fluoride present in other foods and beverages, I no longer recommend to my patients that they routinely use fluoride supplements if they live in a community with non-fluoridated water. Excessive fluoride exposure can cause flourosis, which is a permanent whitish discoloration on the teeth.
My children are cavity-free so far, thanks to good dental hygiene habits and fluoride.
Here are some major medical society recommendations with regards to fluoride use. All recommend community water fluoridation and use of toothpastes with fluoride. You can talk to your dentist who can explain the difference between topical fluoride and ingested fluoride- you need a little of both to prevent cavities.
American Academy of Family Physicians
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/clinical/clinicalrecs/guidelines/fluo...
American Academy of Pediatrics
http://www.aap.org/ORALHEALTH/pact/ch6_sect5.cfm
American Dental Association
http://www.ada.org/fluoride.aspx
Center for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/
Anne Arikian, MD
Los Angeles, CA
banned in Europe
Fluoride is so dangerous it has been banned in most western European countries. It negatively effects the kidneys and other organs. I have read that it is actually a waste product of the aluminum manufacturing process, so we need this in our toothpaste and water why?
Fluoride in Toothpaste
Fluoride is toxic, period. My husband and I stopped using products containing fluoride (including tap water whenever possible) about ten years ago. My husband never got cavities before that and still does not. I rarely got cavities before and rarely get them now. Fluoride is a hoax started years ago when they had this toxic waste that they didn't know how to dispose of. Bingo, force it on John Q. Public and tell us that it's good for us. I'll pass.
dangerous
I went flouride free for two years, and in that time my teeth degenerated so badly I had to have 2 root canals this year. I'm not a scientist or dentist, so I can't say for sure, but in my experience this was a painful and costly mistake. Before dropping flouride toothpaste, I had only had 2 cavaties. After dropping flouride toothpaste, but not making any other changes to my dental routines, I had 7 fillings and the aforementioned root canals.
save your brain. go fluoride free
really interesting topic. fluoride in toothpaste was not needed by traditional cultures - see Weston A Price book "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration"
Fluoride accumulates heavily in the pineal gland (which produces health inducing melatonin)- i.e not a good idea
fluoride can reduce IQ too.
Your body can only excrete a portion of it, so if you dont know your intake from all sources this medicine is therefore in a "have what you want" doseage = NOT RECCOMENDED.
therefore fluoride toothpaste is NOT a good idea. Both because it accumulates in your pineal/possibly lowers IQ plus your doseage of this pharmaceutically active chemical is not monitored. Please cut out fluoride.
www.Fluoridealert.org is run by a independent chemistry profesor - it gives more info