Monday, January 21, 2008

Take Flouride out of our water?

The January 2008 Scientific American does a summary of the rethinking about flouridated drinking water, Second Thoughts on Flouride:

  • Researchers are intensifying their scrutiny of fluoride, which is added to most public water systems in the U.S. Some recent studies suggest that overconsumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland.
  • A 2006 report by a committee of the National Research Council recommended that the federal government lower its current limit for fluoride in drinking water because of health risks to both children and adults.

Mercer Island gets its water from the Cedar River Watershed and the Tolt River Watershed, both located in eastern King County.  Cedar River water is "Fluoridated for dental health protection", according to their web site (I couldn't find anything about flouride on the Tolt River web site ).

If you think flouride is a good idea for your kids, ask your dentist to give you special flouride drops.  But why do all the rest of us need that extra stuff added to our water?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The average kid had, what, double digit cavities every trip to the dentist pre-flouride? And by making it optional, only the ones who can't afford it or don't have access would suffer. This one's easy -- the global good demonstrably outweighs any downside. Continued flouride in our water...please. Our future generations deserve it.

Richard Sprague said...

That's what I thought too, but the SciAm article raises new questions and points out that these days, except in very poor communities, many kids get too much flouride.

Also, flouride has effects on bones, etc. that may be bad for elderly people.

Anonymous said...

The only ones who benefit from flouride in our water supply are children. Why then should everyone else be subjected to flouride "treatments" and the serious side-effects for those older?
Parents can provide flouride though toothpaste if they want to go that route...
The argument that "only the rich" will get flouride for their children is a big lie. Flouride drops and dental coatings are affordable and accessible.

NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation said...

Tooth decay has declined in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated countries equally.

Now that diets are decaying, so are teeth.

Fluoride is neither a nutrient nor required for healthy teeth. Modern science shows ingesting fluoride confers no benefits and that fluoride works only topically - when fluoride touches the outer enamel.

However, fluoride's adverse effectives occur upon ingestion.

for more info
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

http://www.FluorideAction.net

Anonymous said...

Interesting...note this quote from Australia:

"A recent study, published in 2006, has indicated that over a six-year period, decay rates in 14 and 15-year-olds have increased something in the order of 71 per cent." from http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2007/s1858471.htm

Also, if you don't believe the rich/poor thing, great. Let the rich buy bottled water (no flouride) and the poor get water to help them prevent tooth decay. Seems like a win/win. Clearly, if this issue is so critical that it requires your attention, spending a few dollars on bottled water is an easy solution.

Anonymous said...

didnt say it above, but more and more bottled water (non-flouride) is the reason kids are seeing more and more tooth decay

NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation said...

New York -- August 2004 -- Dental examinations of 4800 South Australian
ten- to fifteen-year-olds' permanent teeth reveal unexpected results -
similar cavity rates whether they drink fluoridated water or not,
reports Armfield and Spencer in the August 2004 "Community Dentistry
and Oral Epidemiology"(1).

Children sampled lived in fluoridated and nonfluoridated metropolitan
and rural areas of the Australian state, South Australia.


Collected rainwater, or tank water, is the main non-fluoridated
(non-public) water source for 37% of South Australians, 8% drink
bottled water. The public water supply is fluoridated in Adelaide,
South Australia's capital city. The rest of South Australia is
predominantly non-fluoridated, the authors report.


"The effect of consumption of nonpublic (non-fluoridated) water on
permanent caries (cavities) experience was not significant," report
Armfield and Spencer.


"It should be noted that, as discussed here, the drinking of bottled or
tank water is neither immediately deleterious nor beneficial to oral
health in and of itself," write the authors.


The American Dental Association asserts that fluoridation provides
15-35% cavity reductions in fourteen to seventeen-year-olds. But South
Australian adolescents averaged less than 1 ½ decayed, missing or
filled permanent tooth surfaces (28 teeth have 128 surfaces), whether
they drank fluoridated water or not.


Actually, many studies show, after fluoridation ceases, cavities
decline(2). Others reveal fluoridation is ineffective at reducing tooth
decay(3a-j).


The media recently used the Australian study to blame fluoride-free
bottled or tank water for increased cavity rates in primary or baby
teeth(4). However, no decay data was included for one- to
four-year-olds, the children with the most baby teeth. The studied
group (5100 five- to nine-year-olds) already shed primary teeth,
perhaps some decayed. This places doubt on the validity of the
conclusion that fluoridated water is linked to decreased primary-tooth
cavities in this population sample.


"Cities waste millions of dollars fluoridating their water supplies;
but the poor, malnourished or less educated still get the most cavities
and the least dental care," says lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New
York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.


"Dental health crises exist in many, fluoridated cities(5); while
residents of non-fluoridated Wichita, Kansas and Long Island, NY, have
better dental health than many fluoridated areas(6)," says Beeber.


In fact, non-water-fluoridated Finland, Sweden and Holland have cut
tooth decay rates by 92%, 82% and 72% respectively over the past 20
years. (7)


In the US, where around 60% of the country's water supply, and
virtually all foods and beverages, is fluoridated, health chiefs only
managed to cut rates by 50% over the same period.(7)


References:

http://groups.google.com/group/Fluoridation-News-Releases/browse_thread/thread/c5e8d197f4c896ed/243cf622bbca4ec5?lnk=gst&q=australia#243cf622bbca4ec5

Anonymous said...

Careful...your data doesn't stand up to scrutiny either.

Bottom line -- whatever data you want to support your position is out there, so you have to decide: Is the huge decrease in cavities since pre-flouridated water became mainstream a good thing or not?

It's easy....it's a good thing. If you dont' agree, use bottled water. Win/win.

Anonymous said...

If America really cared about it's citizens dental health they wouldn't put High Fructose Corn Syrup in EVERYTHING. That includes mustard and bread. And that's also not counting the fact that fluoride is nothing more than an industrial waste. It's actually a toxic by-product of various metal refining processes.
No one should be intentionally poisoned.

Anonymous said...

How in the world can this happen especially here in the US? We trusted you alleged "experts" with the lives of our children back in the 50's, 60's and 70's and to this day and this is what you give us; pure crap masqueraded as science? Half baked non research that never occurred?

All in an attempt to rid certain private companies of toxic waste. Unbelievable.

There is no telling of the long term affects. Thanks "experts"

Anonymous said...

I've researched and learned that many people like myself are realizing the negative health effects of fluoride in their source water. I've been using the FluorideMaster whole house fluoride water filtration system and am impressed on how well it performs to completely remove or significantly reduce the floride in my water. I know that the company Vitasalus at http://www.vitasalus.com or http://www.equinox-products.com sells the FlourideMaster Whole Home Fluoride Water Filter System.

Anonymous said...

Fluoride is a known and well-documented NEUROTOXIN that has been shown to reduce IQ and cause a host of health problems.

Would you brush your teeth with lead or arsenic? Because fluoride is as damaging to your body.

Why does everyone need to be drinking toxins added to our water supply? If your kids have dental problems, try using THIEVES OIL in your toothpaste. It's much better for you and reduces gingivitis, which is a far more serious issue than cavities in the US.

Kaitlin said...

You said take flouride out of drinking water because it only benifits kids? It benifits both the young and old.
It is benificial to children as their permemant teeth are developing in their jaw because the flouride is absorbed into their body and strengthens those developing teeth.
It is benificial to adults because as it passes over the teeth while drinking it remineralises the enamel, preventing early decay. Flouride is still absorbed into the body but it isnt toxic unless taken in HIGH dosages. The department for health regulates the levels of flouride in water to make sure they are at safe levels for the whole community.
There have been comments about different countries and states with or without flouridated water having a marginal difference in dental caries. The presence of dental caries is not due souly to the presence of flouride but other social, economic and behavioural factors.
Purchasing products that contain higher levels of flouride in them is usually only possible through a dental professional. Struggling families dont usually have the time to go to a dentist as both parents work or they dont understand the benifits of flouride for their teeth because their community is working on developing different life skills.
For the elderly, any means of strengthing teeth and preventing decay is necessary for their health. As the elderly can not afford restorative dental treatment, many opt to have teeth removed and to have a denture or prosthetic device. Dentures are, at best, 30% as effective as teeth at the eating process. If any one needs to eat properly and take care of what they put in their body its the elderly.
With all things we put in our bodies, it must be done in moderation. Flouridated water IS benificial to everyone!