FLUORIDE: Good or Bad?

Fluoride: Good or bad stuff?

 

I just had my bi-annual dental cleaning. I have a great dentist and hygienist. They are a husband and wife team. My girls also to go them for cleanings and other dental issues. Thank God for our insurance because our genetics have wreaked havoc on our children and they have had some interesting mouth issues. The youngest is the most puzzling as she has an extra tooth on one side of her mouth and is missing one from the other side. Needless to say, even with insurance, most of the girls' college funds have gone away due to dentistry and orthodontia!

 

I never had health or dental insurance as a child. I ate sugar like there was no tomorrow and I had horrible dental hygiene until I finally figured out that I NEEDED to brush my teeth in about middle school. By that time it was too late, the cavities were there. Thankfully the baby teeth bore most of the brunt and, after being infected, fell out and I was pardoned as the new, clean teeth erupted. Talk about second chances....phew. So, just a few cavities needed attention, oh, and I can't forget the root canal, by the time I had my first ever dental appointment at age 14.  I brushed my teeth always after this huge lesson in life. 

How does a horse get straight teeth?

 

Between 14 and 23 years old, I may have seen the dentist 3 or 4 times, I don't recall. After 23 years old, I was able to go for regular check ups as my husband was in the military we had insurance. It was at this age that I had to have another root canal. Thankfully, I have not had one cavity since. I got to have braces, at age 30, to straighten out these pearly girls. Flossing became a breeze after those years of braces! 

 

So, the subject is FLUORIDE. My Momma has always been a holistic girl, which came in handy since we didn't have health or dental insurance! She has always felt that fluoride (and other chemicals used in our daily routines, such as aluminum in antiperspirants) is harmful to our bodies. 

 

I have this discussion with our hygienist every time we go in. She is a very smart cookie and has the most amazing memory ever. I really feel like we are in good hands with her. I do not doubt her education on fluoride. I know that the college texts that one studies will all sing the praises of fluoride and it's benefits. The last time I was in, just a week ago, she showed me a photo of a tooth without fluoride and one with fluoride treatment. It was a highly magnified photo showing the pores of the tooth (did you know our teeth have pores?). In one tooth I could see the pores, like little open holes. In the other, the tooth was completely smooth because the fluoride fills in the holes to keep the pores clogged, essentially. I totally understand how fluoride bonds to and helps protect the teeth. I don't doubt it's effectiveness at this. All that concerns me is the toxicity of fluoride and how easily it is put into our bloodstream as it enters there through the mouth- the most direct way.  

Pores in a tooth

 

So, WHAT IS FLUORIDE? To get the actual scientific explanation, go here: Fluoride by Wikipedia

To be honest, that all means nothing to me because (besides the fact that my lab partner went on to become a professional criminal) I hated chemistry for the most part. 

Propaganda? Do your own research and decide for yourself.

 
The truth is that there are two distinct types of fluoride. One is calcium fluoride. Calcium fluoride is natural and occurs naturally in lakes. It is not usually a major health concern.

The other type is sodium fluoride. Sodium fluoride is a toxic waste, classified as a hazardous waste, and it is a byproduct of the nuclear and aluminum smelting industries. It is highly hazardous to human health, and is associated with conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer's to name only a few. 

 

Unfortunately, the latter of the two is what is used for our teeth.

Here are some great Q & A's I found on fluoride (original link here)

Question 1: 

 Is Fluoride Really Bad for Me? Yes and no.

Calcium fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral in dirt and is considered relatively harmless to humans due to its extreme insolubility. Unfortunately, this is not (and never has been) what is being added to our toothpaste, mouthwash, liquid drops and municipal water supply systems under the guise of dental health. It is silico-fluorides that are being added to 90% of public water systems. Silico-fluorides (including sodium fluoride) are highly toxic industrial grade hazardous wastes generated during aluminum processing and captured in the air pollution-control scrubber systems of the phosphate fertilizer industry. Fluoride in this form causes osteoporosis, thyroid disease, damage to the immune system, heart, lungs, liver, brain, skin, arteries, and premature aging.2
Until the aluminum and fertilizer industries figured out a way to convince our government to actually buy these waste products from them (using heavy handed marketing, lobbying and other tricks) they had to pay huge sums of money to "safely" dispose of these toxic chemicals.3 Advocates of sodium fluoride supplementation argue that the amount of sodium fluoride added to toothpaste, mouthwash, liquid drops and drinking water is too small to have an adverse effect on human health. My question is, "how much toxic poison do you want to put into your body?"
If sodium fluoride is safe to put into your body, why does every tube of Crest and Colgate have a warning on it not to swallow their toothpaste? Everything you put on your skin (including the skin tissue inside your mouth) is absorbed directly into your bloodstream. That is why nicotine and hormone patches placed on the skin are an effective means of administering those substances to the bloodstream. The blood vessels under your tongue have the thinnest walls of any blood vessels on the body externally accessible. This is why a thermometer under the tongue is an accurate measure of internal body temperature. This is also why placing certain supplements and medications under the tongue is an effective means of administering those substances (sublingually.)

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Question 2:

If Sodium Fluoride is Bad for Me, Why Does My Government Add it to My Drinking Water?

That is a very good question! Sodium Fluoride supplementation began in 1947 when Oscar Ewing, a former Alcoa Aluminum lawyer, became head of the U.S. Public Health Service. Alcoa was one of the biggest producers of hazardous fluoride waste at that time. A ten year experiment was performed adding sodium fluoride to the drinking water on the towns of Newburgh and Kingston, New York. Apparently, the U.S. Public Health Service misread the statistics and claimed a 65% reduction in tooth decay. They then used this incorrect data as justification to proceed to fluoridate the drinking water in other cities, a practice which continues to this day despite strong controversy.4
Today, there is a great deal of scientific agreement that ingested fluoride does not, in fact, reduce tooth decay.5  Upon reviewing the evidence, some EPA scientists have recently concluded that the public water supply should not be used "as a vehicle for disseminating this toxic substances." They called for "an immediate halt to the use of the nation's drinking water reservoirs as disposal sites for the toxic waste of the phosphate fertilizer industry."6 Some studies have actually shown an increase in tooth decay with a corresponding increase in fluoride exposure in children!7 I could reference many other well documented studies that show fluoride supplementation does not, in fact, reduce tooth decay.

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Question 3:

I have municipal water in my home. What can I do?

1.    Drink only purified water using a good reverse osmosis or distillation system.

2.    Collect and drink spring water in glass jugs. You can find a local spring at http://www.findaspring.com/. Beyond Organic sells "REIGN" Mountain Spring Water

3.    Install good shower head filters and sink faucet head filters.

4.    Consider installing a good whole house water filtration system.

5.    Use fluoride-free toothpaste. Dry baking soda works fine and saves money.

6.    Do not supplement with fluoride tablets or liquid.

7.    Find a good dentist that does not use fluoride. 

I think it's fair to say that flossing is something we can all agree on?

 So, do your own research if you are on the fence. I have always been told that by simply brushing and flossing, that is all we truly need to keep our teeth cavity free. I use a fluoride-free toothpaste mostly, but sometimes my teeth sensitivity is so bad that I have to use Sensodyne brand. This has fluoride which will help smooth over those pores. I don't like having fluoride, but I can't not brush my teeth either (due to the pain from the sensitivity). Advice to everyone, use SOFT head toothbrushes. All the others are too abrasive and cause your gums to recede (I wish I knew this a long time ago!).

One thing I am working on in life, I can't beat myself up for knowingly exposing myself to some substances that I know are harmful. I cannot escape everything. For those on the "Purist" side of the fence, this sounds silly to you, I am sure, but there can be consequences to anything. The whole "in moderation" stance, is not a bad way to be in my opinion. If I were pregnant, I would certainly take the purist's stance for the sake of the vulnerable baby. But, we all have our thresholds. Don't drive yourself crazy with TOO much information. Fluoride, after all, is only ONE element that can be encountered daily. And, just as I have decided, I don't need it every day, but there are some that I do. Just do what feels right for you.