I’ve heard that ever since fluoride was introduced into water in the U.S., people’s teeth have improved and 39 billion has been saved in medical costs since 1979. An author on[url="http://www.mindpollen.com/book/body2.htm"this site (scroll about a fifth of the way down to the article titled "Fluoride: The Aging Factor), makes the claim that it is actually harmful and its help in preserving teeth has never been proven.
So what’s the deal–are we being gipped?
Sorry: click here
According to DentalWatch.com the anti-fluoridation movement is just poisonmongering.
.:Nichol:.
there have been a number of threads on here about this question. I Googled for a few hours one day.
My conclusion is/was that fluoride in trace amounts is beneficial in preventing tooth decay.
The only serious threat is to kids in areas that have water with lots of natural flouride. Too much can produce white spots on their teeth.
Thanks for the link. Floride IS!!! a poison, and was even used as rat poison in the past.
People, esp . children, have actually died from floride poisoning.
Dont believe me?
Read the label on YOUR toothpaste tube.
Go on, go get it, and read it.
I would like to see studies that remain within certain demographic groups. We all know that certain ethnics have better teeth than others. Since the demographic of america has changed so much in the past 35 years, then it would not be unepected to find changing rates of tooth decay, since we are now measuring more or less of certain races who are more or less prone to tooth decay.
First of all, I would like to see a study of a single ethnic group, and compare the statistics of that one group with pre-1965(?) figures, and one with post floride.
Secondly, the 2 groups must also have had the same amount of dental care, checkups before 1965, and after 1965. I realize that we have made some progress with the addition of adding dental coverage to some employers health benefits, and that, alone, has dramatically changed the incidences of major decay.
Mine says, “If more than is used for brushing is swallowed, call Poison Control.” So, like, my toothpaste n’ crackers party is off, but I don’t feel endangered.
Yeah, but my bottle of vanilla essence has the same basic warning. So what?
BTW, Sodium Fluoride is still sold as rat poison. Again, so what?
FWIW, my best IRL friend is a dental hygienist. She claims that before she even knows where a first-time patient is from, she can tell if they’re from an area that flouridates that water (we live in a tri-state area, and some counties are flouridated while others are not).
Thanks, guys.
Although conspiracy-mongering sure is fun, I guess I’d be inclined to think that fluoride isn’t really detrimental to one’s health, provided you don’t devour it like low-fat whipped cream.
On a related note, I would just like to mention that in Russia there is a popular toothpaste for kids that is actually flavored to be more palatable. In fact, it’s so sweet that kids sometimes swallow after brushing. However, it couldn’t be all that poisonous since I’ve tried some and have not suffered any significant brain damage. (At least none that I can think of.)
Well, everything is a poison. What matters is the dose.
Susanann loudly asserted that
OK, sweetie. All you have to do is post the original info as to numbers, and places.
Don’t give us sites/cites from webpages that assert that.
Give up primary cites.
[sub]I didn’t think so…[/sub]
I doubt it’s harmful in the concentrations used in drinking water. I’ve also heard from a dental hygenist that if you use toothpaste, you get all the flouride you need. So is it beneficial? well yeah. Is it needed in water? well, depends on what other sources you have.
Sorta like the question “Is vitamin C beneficial?”
Have you ever noticed that the Ruskies don’t drink water?
I had oral cancer about 5 years ago. They did surgery and radiation treatment. The radiation made my teeth much more susceptable to decay. I was prescribed a SODIUM FLOURIDE 1% Gel to put on my teeth for 10 minutes (using a fitted mold). Still have all my teeth and the flouride ain’t killed me yet. This is a common practice for patients who have had oral radiation treatment.
Don’t forget that arsenic, chlorine, lead, and many other minerals are in our drinking water in trace amounts with no discernible harm (in fact, some are necessary to live). But, larger doses of these minerals/chemicals are certainly harmful.
Heck, every over the counter medication, alchohol, and certain biochemical poisons common in our foods (potato skins produce such a chemical) are the same way: trace, OK; large dose, no way.
Like it’s been said, it’s all about the dose.
Salt in huge quantities can kill you! Quick, ban salt!
The effects of fluoride are highly dose dependent. We can observe what happens to people that consume extremely high levels of fluoride through their water supply because several areas with this probelm exist in Africa and China. The result is endemic dental and skeletal fluorosis. The effets of these can be quite nasty, but not generally fatal by themselves. The results of a MedLine search on “fatal fluoride poisoning” revealed very few actual fatalities.
A few cites, for those that are interested in learning more (I’d include more, but I’m lazy. If you want more, ask.):
Kloos H., Haimanot RT. “Distribution of fluoride and fluorosis in Ethiopia and prospects for control.” Tropical Medicine & International Health. 4(5):355-64, 1999 May.
Shulman JD. Wells LM. “Acute fluoride toxicity from ingesting home-use dental products in children, birth to 6 years of age.” Journal of Public Health Dentistry. 57(3):150-8, 1997 Summer.
Penman AD. Brackin BT. Embrey R. “Outbreak of acute fluoride poisoning caused by a fluoride overfeed, Mississippi, 1993.” Public Health Reports. 112(5):403-9, 1997 Sep-Oct.
Gupta SK. Gupta RC. Seth AK. Chaturvedi CS. “Increased incidence of spina bifida occulta in fluorosis prone areas.” Acta Paediatrica Japonica. 37(4):503-6, 1995 Aug.
Arnow PM. Bland LA. Garcia-Houchins S. Fridkin S. Fellner SK. “An outbreak of fatal fluoride intoxication in a long-term hemodialysis unit.” Annals of Internal Medicine. 121(5):339-44, 1994 Sep 1.
I only read the abstracts to these articles, but they seemed like they describe some interesting studies. Overally, my impression is what most of the posters here has said … yes, fluoride is a poison at the proper dose or dose-rate. That does not mean that we shouldn’t brush our teeth with regular toothpaste or drink appropriately treated water.
Um, so? Clostridium botulinum, better known as Botulism, is one of the deadliest poisons known to man, but women still pay good money to have Botox injected into their faces.
Between botulism and fluoride, I’ll take fluoride any day.
.:Nichol:.
Samclem:
I do not have the cites either about (dental) Fluoride causing deaths. It has been a long time since that has occured.
When dental office fluoride treatments first were used, they were given as a glass of liquid. The liquid was to be held in the mouth and then expectorated. Some small children died when they swallowed the whole glass of fluoride and were not treated. With today’s gels, overdoses are extremely rare.
In terms of beneficial poisons:
Oxygen - Many premature babies go blind in the incubator due to oxygen and high concentrations over time will even kill adults.
Water - Moderately large doses will easily kill an infant. You can even commit suicide by drinking large amounts of water.
Children have died from poisoning with almost anything you can imagine: table salt, vinegar, whisky and oats just to name a few.
Again, so what? Overconsumption of absolutely anything will lead to death, and that includes water. How does this in any way indicate that the danger level of the susbstances? It’s hard to imagine a more inoccuous substance than water.