There are many people who think fluoride is the best thing since sliced bread and there many people who think that fluoride is so toxic it will kill. Everyone agrees, however, that too much fluoride is definitely a very bad thing. The FDA has set a maximum contaminant level for fluoride in bottled water (the EPA has done the same thing for tap water) – that’s how concerned everyone is about getting too much of it.
Here are a couple of interesting points. First, fluoride is a prescription drug that you cannot buy at the drug store unless prescribed by a doctor. That has always made us wonder why the local water authorities are able to put it into the tap water in the first place. There is fluoride in most toothpastes but the amount of fluoride in toothpaste has dropped by more than 85% during the last fifteen years. Why? Because people were getting too much of it. When you get too much of it, your teeth can begin to mottle (turn brown) and fluoride can make your bones more brittle. Think of how dumb it was to have bubble gum flavored toothpaste! Children were literally eating the toothpaste and – much to their parents chagrin – their teeth were turning brown! That’s why there are maximum limits on fluoride. That’s why the amount of fluoride in toothpaste has come down so significantly over the years.
On the other hand, most dentists and the American Dental Association recommend fluoride toothpaste, fluoride treatments, etc. Who is right and who is wrong? We don’t pretend to know. We just know that you should have a choice about it. Do your own research to draw your own conclusions. Type “fluoride dangers” and then “fluoride benefits” into your friendly search engine. Read all about it and make yours an educated decision.
If you do conclude that you and/or your children need more fluoride, then you should probably get a prescription written by your doctor so that you can give EXACTLY the right amount. Think about this. You and your children probably use the same brand of toothpaste, right? Well, your blood volume is much greater than that of your 4 year old or ten year old child. But the concentration of fluoride in your toothpaste is the same. It’s like children’s aspirin – there is a lower dosage for children’s aspirin than regular adult aspirin. But that’s not generally the case with toothpaste.
Finally, fluoride (in almost every form) tastes absolutely awful. The only reason you don’t taste it in tap water is because of all of the other impurities in tap water help mask its taste!!
