# well water and (lack of) fluoride **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 11, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365 "2007-10-11T18:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/1 "2007-10-11T18:14:45Z")
We have a well that supplies water to our house. It’s the best water I’ve ever tasted. Of course, it’s been tested by the county and found to be excellent. My wife is concerned that the kids may have dental problems because of the absence of fluoride. How important is this? Can fluoride be safely added to the well? How about oral suppliments? Any other answers out there? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/2 "2007-10-11T18:19:22Z")
You probably need to ask your dentist for advise but fluoride in drinking water is only an indirect way to get fluoride to an entire population. Plenty of fluoride rinses are available at any drug store or supermarket and almost all toothpaste has it. A dentist should be able to tell you how much is enough but I hear it doesn’t take much. Lots of people still have wells and I have never heard of anyone adding it directly to their well. The stuff is toxic when concentrated. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/3 "2007-10-11T18:23:36Z")
I found a American Dental Association article on this but it doesn’t seem to be definitive. Your well may already have fluoride in it from natural sources. [http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/news.asp](http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/news.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/4 "2007-10-11T18:27:07Z")
I was given fluoride tablets to chew when I was little. Maybe ask your dentist about something similar? (They were called Flux, BTW). ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/5 "2007-10-11T19:18:38Z")
Ask your pediatrician. Ours prescribes fluoride chewables for the kids, since our town doesn’t fluoridate the water. They’re called “Luride Lozi-tabs”. ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/6 "2007-10-11T20:15:59Z")
Our pediatrician recommended an oral fluoride suplement for our kids even though our (municipal) water IS fluoridated. I declined. I also declined to make more appointments with that particular doctor in the group practice. There is certainly such a thing as too much fluoride. My husband grew up with non fluoridated well water and lived to tell about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/7 "2007-10-11T20:20:16Z")
[QUOTE=Solfy] My husband grew up with non fluoridated well water and lived to tell about it. [/QUOTE] And I know someone who grew up without fluoridated water and has terrible teeth. YMMV. But my understanding (based on reading all the child-rearing books) is that the kid needs fluoride when his permanent teeth are developing under the gum so that the fluoride is actually incorporated into the tooth. Makes it more resistant to decay. When we lived in Lebanon, we gave our daughter a multivitamin with fluoride, on the recommendation of our pediatrician. But yeah, too much can cause staining of the teeth. So I would check to see how much fluoride is in the water naturally before using a supplement. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/8 "2007-10-11T21:48:18Z")
I’ve actually been hearing recently that the addition of flouride might be a bad thing. If you do a google search, you’ll find a lot of oppossing opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/9 "2007-10-11T22:26:58Z")
Opposing opinions or opposing facts? \*Flouride: does it cause autism? \* Is that next? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/10 "2007-10-11T22:37:59Z")
We have well water, and had it tested for naturally occurring fluoride. After reviewing the test results, our dentist prescribed fluoride pills for my son. Anecdotally, I was raised with fluoridated water, and have never had a cavity. My wife did not have fluoridated water, and has had a lifetime of cavities, root canals, crowns, etc. The cost of my dental care is less than $200 in a typical year for cleanings (less than $50 out-of-pocket). My wife’s dental care is often more than 10 times this amount, and she often goes over the $1,500 cap provided by our insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/11 "2007-10-12T14:06:35Z")
Our municipal water supply is not fluoridated. Our pediatrician prescribed a chewable multivitamin with fluoride for our two kids (liquid vitamin when they were younger). They are 3 and almost 6 years old. They’ve always had good checkups at the dentist. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-water-and-lack-of-fluoride/422365/12 "2007-10-12T14:13:41Z")
My son and I use one dentist, my daughter uses another and my wife goes to her cousin who is a dentist. All 3 recommended a Fluoride Rinse for our kids. They use [ACT Fluoride Rinse](http://www.drugs.com/mtm/act-fluoride-rinse.html) for kids or one of its generic knock-offs nightly. My daughter was getting many cavities and this has now stopped. My son has only had one and none since using the rinse. My son started at age 6 and my daughter at age 8. Jim