# "We produce our toothpaste without fluoride because we respect our customers' diverse **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370 "2003-12-06T13:41:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/1 "2003-12-06T13:41:59Z")
So says my tube of Tom’s of Maine Natural anti-plaque, tartar control, plus whitening toothpaste. Is fluoride not Kosher or somehow offensive to a large group of people? I’m just a little puzzled as to why fluoride violates their customers’ “diverse needs and interests.” Interests? Any ideas on this? I know Tom’s of Maine is hippie-ish (for lack of a better term) but even this seems a little out there. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/2 "2003-12-06T13:43:36Z")
Argh, it cut off my title, should read: “We produce our toothpaste without fluoride because we respect our customers’ diverse needs and interests.” ---
**Author:** ![SeekingTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SeekingTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeekingTruth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/3 "2003-12-06T13:52:04Z")
Well considering flouride has been added to all US public water systems for YEARS (not sure of decades) this is a hippie using capitalism to make a buck. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/4 "2003-12-06T13:54:53Z")
There have been campaigns to oppose adding fluoride to communities’ water supplies because the opponents THINK it causes health problems like cancer. My suspicion is that the “hippie” type of person is more suspicious of adding chemicals to anything than the average person, so that’s probably why Tom’s doesn’t use it. ---
**Author:** ![SeekingTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SeekingTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeekingTruth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/5 "2003-12-06T13:56:51Z")
But flouride is the main ingredient that helps prevent cavities and gum disease. Does he also sell non-emulsifying soap? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/6 "2003-12-06T13:57:09Z")
Fluoride is a very deadly toxin and there has been speculation that taking it via liquids and toothpaste might be giving people a variety of illnesses such as mottling of the teeth, cancer, hypothyroidism, etc. However its hard to find an unbiased website. most websites on that subject sell ‘all natural’ health food. ---
**Author:** ![SeekingTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SeekingTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeekingTruth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/7 "2003-12-06T14:04:05Z")
Well I’m no expert so prolly won’t post to this thread anymore since it’ll be mostly opinion, but all natural doesn’t mean healthy. Would you buy a product containing arsenic, cyanide and carbon monoxide as an icer? It would be an all-natural product! I wonder if the FDA would allow me in food sales? ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/8 "2003-12-06T14:15:45Z")
Wow, who knew fluoride was so controversial? > [@](#): > > Fluoride is a very deadly toxin and there has been speculation that taking it via liquids and toothpaste might be giving people a variety of illnesses such as mottling of the teeth, cancer, hypothyroidism, etc. Yikes. > [@](#): > > but all natural doesn’t mean healthy. Agreed. Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/9 "2003-12-06T14:21:19Z")
Back in my long-lost youth (1950s, into the 1960s), some of the extreme right-wingers (John Birch Society types) regarded fluoridation of the water supply as a Communist plot, designed to poison all of us. You simply wouldn’t believe the hysteria that surrounded the subject if you hadn’t seen it in action. Fluoride is toxic if taken in large doses. Then again, so are a lot of things we use, in small doses, to make ourselves healthier (aspirin, some vitamins, most prescription drugs, etc., etc.). ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/10 "2003-12-06T14:29:15Z")
An informative [article](http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/fluoride.html) ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/11 "2003-12-06T14:29:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wesley Clark \* > Fluoride is a very deadly toxin and there has been speculation that taking it via liquids and toothpaste might be giving people a variety of illnesses such as mottling of the teeth, cancer, hypothyroidism, etc. I really wish to see a cite for this claim. My handy Encyclopædia Britannica has this to say: > [@](#): > > Many communities reduce the incidence of tooth decay in young children by adding sodium fluoride or other fluorine compounds to filtered water. The dosage of fluoride must be carefully controlled. Low concentrations are beneficial and cause no harmful side effects, but very high concentrations of fluoride may cause discoloration of tooth enamel. While discoloration of the teeth is no fun, I find it to be vary far from cancer and whatever other claims you make. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/12 "2003-12-06T14:39:02Z")
Fluoride is a toxic foreign substance introduced into the water supply that corrupts into our precious bodily fluids. [sub]_We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, But I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day. Keep smiling through, just like you always do, 'Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away._[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/13 "2003-12-06T14:40:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > \*\* > > While discoloration of the teeth is no fun, I find it to be vary far from cancer and whatever other claims you make. \*\* [http://www.fluoridealert.org/health.htm](http://www.fluoridealert.org/health.htm) its a biased site but its not like they are making news stories up either. ---
**Author:** ![SeekingTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SeekingTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeekingTruth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/14 "2003-12-06T14:45:30Z")
Ack! I just noticed your user name. No wonder the doom and gloom. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/15 "2003-12-06T14:57:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*Fluoride is a toxic foreign substance introduced into the water supply that corrupts into our precious bodily fluids. > > [sub]_We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, > But I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day. > Keep smiling through, just like you always do, > 'Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away._[/sub] \*\* How did Gen. Jack D. Ripper sneak in here, **astro**? (If that _is_ your real name… 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/16 "2003-12-06T19:10:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SeekingTruth \* > \*\*Well considering flouride has been added to all US public water systems for YEARS (not sure of decades) this is a hippie using capitalism to make a buck. \*\* Not all communities floridate their water. I live near two cities that do not. Around here, it’s the extreme left-wing that resists fluoridation. (It always warms the cockles of my heart to see the extreme left and the extreme right agree on _something_. ;)) Also, most homes in rural areas have private wells which are not artificially fluoridated, though they may contain varying levels of fluoride naturally, depending on the geology of the region. Thus, a person wishing to avoid fluoride has several options, including only drinking (even only cooking with) unfluoridated bottled water. Providing fluoride-free toothpaste to consumers who prefer to avoid fluouride, whatever the health costs or benefits, is not a scam. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/17 "2003-12-06T19:19:36Z")
A perfectly valid opposition to fluoridation is that the water supply is a exactly that; a supply of water. It is not a means of administrating mass medication without the patient’s choice or permission. And that applies regardless of the benefits, which are certainly not without contention. Which is why the OP’s toothpaste offers a choice. Why should your water supply remove that choice? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/18 "2003-12-06T19:28:28Z")
> [@](#): > > _You’re worried about fluoride being taken out [of drinking water]? You should worry about fluoride being put in! Fluoride is dangerous! Fluoride causes cancer! Fluoride can . . ._ > Whatever. Long a target of fringe groups, fluoridation is widely considered one of the great public-health achievements of the last century, having reduced cavities on the order of 50 percent and saved billions in dental care costs ($39 billion from 1979 to 1989, according to one study). That said, fluoride is only one of thousands of chemicals that have been introduced into the environment, and it’d be foolish to claim we understand the physiological effects of all of them. If you want to take a stab at filtering chemicals out of your water and doing so doesn’t cost very much, why not? > > –CECIL ADAMS [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020208.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020208.html) ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/19 "2003-12-06T20:22:00Z")
## quote: Originally posted by astro Fluoride is a toxic foreign substance introduced into the water supply that corrupts into our precious bodily fluids. * * * How did Gen. Jack D. Ripper sneak in here, astro? (If that is your real name… ) I hope that you realize that while we are here chatting so enjoyably, that there is a plan afoot to introduce flouride into ice cream!?!? CHILDREN’S ice cream!?!?! also, tell me this…have you ever seen a Commie drinking water? or, was it vodka? i think that explains it quite clearly! ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370/20 "2003-12-06T21:23:39Z")
I should have known that Cecil would have something to say on the matter. It seems that fluoride is more divisive that I had imagined. I have a better understanding of why Tom’s offers a fluoride-free toothpaste. I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to avoid fluoride but it’s good to know about the fluoride/no fluoride debate and to have a choice in the matter. You all have been most informative, thanks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-produce-our-toothpaste-without-fluoride-because-we-respect-our-customers-diverse/217370.md?page=2)