Fluoride is a either a safe, naturally occurring element that helps prevent tooth decay or a malicious/foolish ploy by a conspiracy. Either way, water in Davis is not supplemented with fluoride, so those who can afford it can have it either way, choosing to add fluoride into their daily regimen or not. The natural levels of fluoride in Davis tap water are about 0.2 ppm, which is 1/3 the optimal level for the health benefits. Sacramento and Roseville supplement the municipal water supplies to optimal fluoride levels. Recent (late 2010) government evaluations have changed the recommended optimal levels of fluoride in drinking water from 1ppm to 0.7ppm. This change was based upon increasing levels of mild fluorosis in children and adolescents. Mild fluorosis causes minor (but harmless) visual imperfections in the teeth.
Black tea and green tea are high in fluoride. Tea leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) contain a high concentration of fluoride and aluminum.
Due to budget cuts, Sacramento may ![[WWW]](http://wikispot.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
stop fluoridating the municipal water. By doing this, the city can save about $1 million per year. However, in the long run this will likely increase the need for state/federal funded dental programs because the fraction of a second a fluoride ion contacts a tooth while passing through one's mouth considerably increases dental hygiene.
Many of the factual pieces of information on this page are taken from the Sacramento District Dental Society website
Facts About Fluoride
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Fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay and to improve oral health over a lifetime.
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More than 60 years of scientific research has found that people living in communities with fluoridated water have healthier teeth and significantly fewer cavities than people living where the water is not fluoridated.
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Today, more than 162 million people in the United States drink fluoridated water – 66 percent of the U.S. population. In California, only 29 percent of the cities with public water supplies fluoridate.
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Studies comparing the decay experience of people living in fluoridated versus fluoride-deficient areas demonstrate that adult who consume fluoridated water have a lower prevalence of dental decay.
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The cost of fluoridation for a lifetime of protection is approximately $50 - less than the cost to fill just one cavity.
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The California Dental Association has estimated that every dollar invested in fluoridation saves about $140 in dental bills.
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DentiCal costs California taxpayers approximately $700 million every year, a significant part of which paid for treatments that could easily have been prevented with fluoridation.
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More than 50 percent of today’s first-graders are cavity-free due to fluoridation.
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In adults, fluoride can reduce cavities by up to 40 percent, while strengthening tooth enamel and preventing root and gum disease – helping adults keep their teeth for a lifetime.
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The American Medical Association, American Dental Association, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the World Health Organization are among a myriad of major state, national and international health service organizations that strongly endorse the use of fluoridated water.
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All water contains some fluoride naturally, but community water fluoridation, which has been safely consumed by the public for over 60 years, is the process of adjusting the fluoride content of fluoride-deficient water to the recommended level for optimal dental health.
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Fluoride is a mineral naturally occurring in almost all food and water supplies and comes from the element fluorine, the 13th most abundant element in the earth's crust.
Myths about Fluoride
In the 1950s, water fluoridation was claimed to be a communist plot to weaken the United States
Myth: Fluoridation causes a decrease in bone health.
Fact: Current research indicates that when used consistently in appropriate doses fluoride stimulates the formation of bone, increases bone formation earlier, and increases spinal bone density. Research studies also show that fluoride may help rebuild bone loss in post-menopausal women suffering from osteoporosis. However, in very large doses, fluoride can be detrimental to bone health and cause gastro-intestinal problems.
Myth: In communities where fluoride is added to the drinking water there is an increase in cancer rates.
Fact: More than fifty studies have evaluated the possibility of an association between fluoride and cancer and found no relationship between community water fluoridation and cancer. Several independent expert panels of epidemiologists have reviewed the relevant scientific literature and agree that there is NO credible evidence for an association between either naturally occurring fluoride or adjusted fluoride in drinking water and risk of cancer in humans.
Myth: Fluoride is a poison.
Fact: Fluoride is NOT a poison at the concentrations found in optimally fluoridated water. Like minerals such as zinc and iron, fluoride is classified by the National Research Council as an important trace element in human nutrition. Many elements and minerals can be poisonous in the proper concentrations. With water fluoridated at 1ppm , an average adult would have to drink 660 gallons in 2-4 hours for it to be considered a poison. Consuming very large quantities of anything over several years could have adverse health effects.
Myth: There are harmful levels of contaminants in the fluorides used for water fluoridation.
Fact: Contaminants are pervasive in chemicals, but the contaminants found in the chemicals used for water fluoridation are controlled and regulated for volume and amount, so as not to be deemed harmful by the EPA. The United States Environmental Protection Agency regulates the maximum permissible level of contaminants in drinking water.
FAQ
What is fluoride and how does it reduce tooth decay?
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Fluoride replaces the hydroxide ion in the tooth enamel. Tooth enamel is made of hydroxyapatite, replacing the hydroxide ion with fluoride ion results in a stronger bond between the ions. The tooth structure is therefore, more resistant to acid demineralization.
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Fluoride helps to rebuild enamel by sequestering calcium and phosphate ions from saliva. The fluoride ion binds to the enamel rods and facilitates the natural remineralization process (repairing of demineralized enamel from acid attack) that naturally occurs in saliva.
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Fluoride interferes with the bacterial enzyme Enolase. Fluoride interferes with cavity causing bacterial pathways, therefore disrupting the bacteria's ability to metabolize sugar.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring element that prevents tooth decay when ingested systemically or applied to teeth topically.
The fluoride ion comes from the element fluorine. Fluorine, the 13th most abundant element in the earth's crust, is never encountered in its free state in nature. It exists only in combination with other elements as a fluoride compound. It is found in this form as a constituent of minerals in rocks and soil everywhere. Water passes over rock formations containing fluoride and dissolves these compounds, creating fluoride ions. The result is that small amounts of soluble fluoride ions are present in all water sources, including the oceans. Fluoride is present to some extent in all foods and beverages, in various concentrations.
Studies comparing the decay experience of people living in fluoridated versus fluoride-deficient areas demonstrate that adults who consume fluoridated water have a lower prevalence of dental decay.
Fluoride acts via 3 methods, all of these methods are achieved with topical fluoride:
What is water fluoridation?
All water contains some fluoride naturally. Water fluoridation is the process of adjusting the fluoride content of fluoride-deficient water to the recommended level for optimal dental health. In the United States, the optimum concentration for fluoride in the water has been established in the range of 0.7 to 1.2 parts per million (ppm).
Why have some individuals and groups objected to water fluoridation?
Some people claim people oppose fluoridation out of fear and ignorance, several small but highly vocal groups were formed for the sole purpose of fighting fluoridation. Most of these organizations, however, lack sufficient resources or expertise to have much impact outside of the individual communities where they are based. Many people consider fluoridation mass medication and are opposed to this idea. Other people believe that there are negative health effects from fluoride that outweigh the dental benefits.
An entirely different group of people support the idea that fluorine does have clear health benefits, but object to the manner in which it is given. The fluorine is good; the method of non-choice application is a common way for small groups of people to decide and enforce their vision of what is "for the good" of all other individuals. Historically, many horrors have been committed in the name of helping the masses without their consent, and those people find that fluoridating the public water supply is a fundamentally objectionable and extreme method of delivery for a comparably minor benefit.
Aren’t there other effective alternatives to community water fluoridation?
Some people believe that there are effective alternatives to community water fluoridation. However, the fact is that while other community-based methods of systematic and topical fluoride delivery (e.g., school-based fluoride mouth rinse or table programs) have been developed, none is as effective as community water fluoridation and none is free from financial constraints or other drawbacks. Alternatives to community water fluoridation remain useful only for populations significantly isolated from public water systems (e.g., those on private wells). Other programs include fluoridated-salt in some European and South American countries (much as how common table salt in the USA is typically supplemented with iodine), as well as even milk-fluoridation programs aimed to help children in countries ranging from the UK to Russia. Fluoridated toothpaste is considered to be very effective, but as mentioned, none of these programs are as effective as community-based water-fluoridation at reaching those at highest risk and need.
Is tooth decay still a serious problem?
Yes. Dental caries (tooth decay) continues to be a significant oral health problem which is preventable through a combination of measures.
Tooth decay is, by far, the most prevalent and costly of oral health problems among all age groups.
It is also the principle cause of tooth loss from early childhood through middle age, when tooth loss from periodontal disease is a major concern. However, caries continues to be problematic for middle-aged and older adults, particularly root caries. In addition to its effects in the mouth, dental caries may affect general well-being by interfering with an individual's ability to eat certain foods and by impacting an individual's emotional and social well-being by causing pain and discomfort. Tooth decay, particularly in the front teeth, also can effect an individual's self-esteem by detracting from their appearance.
Do adults benefit from fluoridation?
Yes. Research has shown that the caries preventive effects of fluoride are not limited to children. Adults obtain substantial benefits as well.
Fluoride has both a systemic and topical effect and is beneficial to adults in two ways. The first is through the remineralization process, in which beginning carious lesions in the enamel fail to enlarge or may even reverse because of frequent exposure to small amounts of fluoride. The other protective benefit is in the prevention of root caries, a progressive lesion of the root surface, affecting adults with gingival recession.
In addition to the direct benefits of successfully fighting tooth decay, water fluoridation has several indirect advantages to adults as well. These include reductions in pain from dental infections, fewer missing teeth, fewer abscessed teeth, reduced need for dentures, fewer cases of misaligned teeth caused by early tooth loss, and fewer school and working days lost due to dental disorders or visits to the dentist.
Is bottled water fluoridated?
Bottled water does not contain fluoride unless it says so on the label. It is available but most supermarkets and convenience stores don't carry the small water bottles with fluoride. It is easier to get fluoridated bottled water (5 gallon) through water delivery companies like Arrowhead.
I have a Brita filter - is it removing the fluoride from my water?
Brita does not remove fluoride from the water. The only systems that do filter out fluoride use reverse osmosis.
Does my child need a fluoride prescription?
Because Davis municipal water does not contain optimal fluoride, fluoride supplements are recommended for optimal dental health. Check with your child's dentist for his/her recommendation regarding a fluoride prescription.
Comments:
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2010-02-25 09:55:34 "Topically-applied fluoride doesn't prevent tooth decay. It does render teeth detectable by spy satellites." —hankim
2010-02-26 06:12:12 Fluoride is neither a nutrient nor required for healthy teeth. Ingesting fluoride does not reduce tooth decay; but does expose entire populations to fluoride's adverse health effects.
An expert panel convened by the National Research Council, at the behest of the Environmental Protection Agency, reviewed recent scientific evidence concerning fluoride's toxicity and reveals that fluoride, even at the low levels added to water supplies, can cause damage to bones, thyroid, teeth and can be harmful to kidney patients, babies and high water drinkers. The NRC panel said that the maximum contaminant level goal of fluoride in public water supplies is too high to be protective of health and must be lowered.
At least three NRC panel members recommend that the MCLG of fluoride be as close to zero as possible —nyscof
Davis water is 0.2 ppm. The EPA has the MCLG at 4.0. The controversy over the EPA's decision was that many people think 2.0ppm (or 3.0ppm) should have been the maximum. Either way, Davis is far, far below the MCLG (that's 20 fold below the MCLG the EPA set, and 10 fold below the expected maximum). And clearly, lower than the recommended levels. In fact, the WHO and others have recommended removal of fluoride in places where it's above the optimum dental benefit (which is some .7 to 1.2ppm). Nonetheless, they've all said fluoridation is beneficial. Regarding fluoridation, there seems to be a general notion that it's a United States oddidity that's dangerous and not neccessary.
Take a look at the salt in your pantry. Or next time you go to the supermarket. The bulk of the salt used in the United States is iodinated. Salt supplemented with iodine, it helps prevent thyroid issues and goiters, plain old table salt, right? Well, some countries use fluoridated salt - ranging from Germany and France in Europe out to Columbia and Jamaica. Other countries take a different approach and have some fluoridation programs aimed at children - the UK, Russia, Peru, Chile have milk-fluoridation. Milk! The world-wide scientific consensus is that fluoridation is very, very good. In the US you hear more about 'what if there's too much' arguments and simply more from people who are simply scared of it. I tend to think this is simply unintentional ignorance. Pretty much every first-world country, as well as the WHO, have agreed that fluoridation is critical in dental care and preventing carries and decay.
Water fluoridation is simply the easiest way to reach the most people, especially those at higher risk. The only real scientific dissenters (other than the aforementioned 2.0 vs 3.0 vs 4.0 MCLG debates) is that a few studies conclude that water fluoridation is unneccessary in areas where people have regular access to fluoroidated toothpaste. Again though, putting it in the water reaches the people that need it most. To say that it's not required for healthy teeth is at this point just simply not true, as decades of research and empirical data have shown. -ES
2010-02-26 09:47:49 It is correct that fluoride does not need to be ingested to get its benefits, also it is not required for healthy teeth (but it sure helps). Fluoride is not considered a nutrient, but is considered an important (not essential) trace element. Topical fluoride DOES reduce tooth decay (There is absolutely NO debate about this) and ingesting fluoride provides fluoride ions for secretion into saliva for it to work its topical effects. To see how fluoride works, see the above FAQ. The benefits of fluoridation are primarily a public health measure, it primarily helps children who might otherwise recieve poor oral health care. I support public fluoridation, but I can understand and respect people's opposition to it. —DagonJones
2011-07-20 20:05:47 Is there any way to get high on fluoride? Sometimes that other dental drug gets boring. —ScottMeehleib
2011-07-20 22:54:44 I took some fluoride when I was younger, it was tasteh! —StevenDaubert
