Oral Health
Should Fluoride Still Be Added To Drinking Water?
Date: 28/04/05
Keywords: Oral Health, Osteoporosis
For decades the message that fluoride safely prevents tooth decay has been considered sacrosanct. This idea came from the same chemicals for better living era that also told us that smoking cigarettes soothed the throat...You may ask yourself, why all the fuss about fluoride?
Well, in case you didnt know it, fluoride is highly toxic. In fact, before fluoride was deemed a cavity fighter, it was used as insecticide and rat poison. It's true.
Even more surprising is that when it comes to dental hygiene, fluoride actually does more harm than good.
This is a disturbing thought when 70 per cent of people in Ireland and 2 per cent of people in Britain have fluoride added to their drinking water.
Everything you always DIDN'T want to know about fluoride
For decades the message that fluoride safely prevents tooth decay has been considered sacrosanct. This idea came from the same chemicals for better living era that also told us that smoking cigarettes soothed the throat.
Now for a brief history lesson...
Fluoride is a pollutant - a by-product of copper, iron and aluminium manufacturing. The problem of how to legally dispose of fluoride in the US was solved in the 1930s when a study (funded by one of the countrys largest aluminium companies) concluded that fluoride prevented tooth decay. A successful public relations effort, helped along with some cooperative government cronies, resulted in the good news going out: this miracle chemical, when added to water supplies, will give everyone healthy teeth and brighter smiles.
Got fluoride?
But does fluoride actually prevent tooth decay? Not according to the largest study ever conducted on fluoridation and oral health. 39,000 school children in 84 areas around the US were studied in the mid-80s, and the results showed no statistical difference in tooth decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated cities.
Meanwhile, tooth decay trends tracked by the World Health Organisation from 1970 to the present show that the incidence of decayed, missing or filled teeth has been steadily in decline with each passing year in the US, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Iceland and Greece.
And why are the numbers of decayed teeth on the decline? Better oral hygiene and improved dental practice is the most obvious answer. Its certainly not the fluoride. Because of all of those countries, only one adds fluoride to the public water supply: the United States.
A few of the countries listed above used to put fluoride in some of their water, but they eventually wised up to the dangers of this aluminium by-product. And heres some truly radical thinking for you: many of those countries simply refuse to run fluoride through every citizens taps based on the idea that health treatments should be a personal choice and not mandated by the government. What a concept!
Downside takes a down turn
So how is fluoride bad for you? To start with, the irony is that when you consume too much fluoride, your teeth can become discoloured and crumble. But thats nothing compared to the other ways that fluoride attacks your mind and body.
In tests on laboratory animals, fluoride has been shown to enhance the brains absorption of aluminium - the substance thats found in the brains of most Alzheimers patients. Three different osteoporosis studies have associated hip fractures with fluoridation. And excessive fluoride has been shown to damage the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, leading to limited joint mobility, ligament calcification, muscular degeneration and neurological deficits.
And finally (I saved the worst till last), a number of different studies have linked fluoride to as many as 10,000 cancer deaths per year, with a high incidence of bone cancer among men exposed to fluoridated water.
Lets be perfectly clear: Fluoride is not something your body needs. No one has a fluoride deficiency. Fluoride is a false magic bullet solution from a bygone era. Now, 60 years after water fluoridation began, the word is getting out: this stuff is just plain bad for you.
Back to topWell, in case you didnt know it, fluoride is highly toxic. In fact, before fluoride was deemed a cavity fighter, it was used as insecticide and rat poison. It's true.
Even more surprising is that when it comes to dental hygiene, fluoride actually does more harm than good.
This is a disturbing thought when 70 per cent of people in Ireland and 2 per cent of people in Britain have fluoride added to their drinking water.
Everything you always DIDN'T want to know about fluoride
For decades the message that fluoride safely prevents tooth decay has been considered sacrosanct. This idea came from the same chemicals for better living era that also told us that smoking cigarettes soothed the throat.
Now for a brief history lesson...
Fluoride is a pollutant - a by-product of copper, iron and aluminium manufacturing. The problem of how to legally dispose of fluoride in the US was solved in the 1930s when a study (funded by one of the countrys largest aluminium companies) concluded that fluoride prevented tooth decay. A successful public relations effort, helped along with some cooperative government cronies, resulted in the good news going out: this miracle chemical, when added to water supplies, will give everyone healthy teeth and brighter smiles.
Got fluoride?
But does fluoride actually prevent tooth decay? Not according to the largest study ever conducted on fluoridation and oral health. 39,000 school children in 84 areas around the US were studied in the mid-80s, and the results showed no statistical difference in tooth decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated cities.
Meanwhile, tooth decay trends tracked by the World Health Organisation from 1970 to the present show that the incidence of decayed, missing or filled teeth has been steadily in decline with each passing year in the US, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Iceland and Greece.
And why are the numbers of decayed teeth on the decline? Better oral hygiene and improved dental practice is the most obvious answer. Its certainly not the fluoride. Because of all of those countries, only one adds fluoride to the public water supply: the United States.
A few of the countries listed above used to put fluoride in some of their water, but they eventually wised up to the dangers of this aluminium by-product. And heres some truly radical thinking for you: many of those countries simply refuse to run fluoride through every citizens taps based on the idea that health treatments should be a personal choice and not mandated by the government. What a concept!
Downside takes a down turn
So how is fluoride bad for you? To start with, the irony is that when you consume too much fluoride, your teeth can become discoloured and crumble. But thats nothing compared to the other ways that fluoride attacks your mind and body.
In tests on laboratory animals, fluoride has been shown to enhance the brains absorption of aluminium - the substance thats found in the brains of most Alzheimers patients. Three different osteoporosis studies have associated hip fractures with fluoridation. And excessive fluoride has been shown to damage the musculoskeletal and nervous systems, leading to limited joint mobility, ligament calcification, muscular degeneration and neurological deficits.
And finally (I saved the worst till last), a number of different studies have linked fluoride to as many as 10,000 cancer deaths per year, with a high incidence of bone cancer among men exposed to fluoridated water.
Lets be perfectly clear: Fluoride is not something your body needs. No one has a fluoride deficiency. Fluoride is a false magic bullet solution from a bygone era. Now, 60 years after water fluoridation began, the word is getting out: this stuff is just plain bad for you.
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