You know us—we really like to stay focused on solutions to help you navigate to greater oral health. Goodness knows there is plenty in this industry to ‘cry foul’ about, but that’s not our style.
That’s why we avoid writing lots of articles that simply identify problems.
We prefer to share solutions to problems instead of simply introducing more problems (and stress) into your life.
However, given our recent article exploring how to stop cavities and reverse tooth decay, it’s time to quickly dive into dentistry’s nasty little F-word.
We’re talking about fluoride, of course.
After all, for many generations, we have been taught that fluoride is the ‘go-to’ solution to stop tooth decay and support remineralization, right?
The issue around fluoride’s safety is a hot and controversial topic. There are many pieces to unpack in this discussion, so let’s jump in.
Going beyond the simplistic question, ‘Is fluoride safe?’
The type of question we ask often determines the quality of information that we receive.
In this discussion, asking whether it’s safe to use fluoride only adds to the confusion.
Both sides of the argument have very well-researched data to back their claims, with experts who are willing to state that they are ‘right’. So it’s not even really possible to answer the simplistic question of, ‘is it safe?’.
Instead, let’s take a look at the research and walk through our simple, two-step process to ‘test’ the risks vs. benefits of any product that is going to be used in the mouth.
We first introduced this process in our free video tutorial course, 5 Steps to a Healthy Mouth.
The process involves answering two simple questions:
- What is the impact of this product/ingredient in the mouth?
- What is the impact of this product/ingredient ‘downstream’ in the rest of the body?
Before we begin walking through these questions with fluoride, it’s important to note that we can’t put something into our mouth and then just spit and rinse to avoid absorbing it into our body.
In other words, anything we put into our mouth is going to be absorbed by our cheek and gum tissue and wind up in the rest of our body.
For example, think of medicines or homeopathic remedies that are absorbed by placing the pill under the tongue.
With that in place, let’s walk through this two-step process with a focus on fluoride.
The benefits and risks of using fluoride in the mouth
According to the Center for Disease Control, fluoride helps reduce the risk of tooth decay in three ways. It:
- Enhances remineralization of weakened regions on our teeth before they evolve into what we know as a ‘cavity’.
- Inhibits further demineralization to resist future decay.
- Destroys the enzymes of bacteria that are responsible for tooth decay.
Here’s a link to download the CDC report yourself.
To understand how fluoride works, let’s recall our recent article, ‘How Teeth Decay’, in which we introduced the mineral compound that our teeth are made of: hydroxyapatite.
Hydroxyapatite is a compound of calcium and phosphorus with a bit of hydrogen and oxygen. For those of you who think nostalgically about your old high school chemistry class, the formula is Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2.
When fluoride is applied topically to our teeth, it helps form a similar compound called ‘fluor-apatite’ (also called ‘fluoroapatite’). In this similar compound, the fluoride ‘fills the need’ for the (OH)2 that’s in hydroxyapatite.
Research shows that fluor-apatite is harder than hydroxyapatite, and it does resist decay a bit better than our natural tooth material.
However, experts who speak against the use of fluoride point out that harder-than-natural teeth aren’t necessarily better.
Our friend and mentor, Dr. David Kennedy, shared with us his concern that regular use of fluoride may cause the outer enamel to be more brittle, and therefore more vulnerable to tooth fractures.
How does fluoride impact the whole body?
This is where the research gets pretty nasty.
The prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, published an article that classified fluoride as a neurotoxin. The research, titled Neurobehavioural Effects of Developmental Toxicity, suggests that children are more at risk than adults for brain damage from fluoride exposure.
To add to the evidence, a Harvard study showed a connection between fluoride and lower IQ in children. Also, it’s been shown that fluoride crosses the placenta into a developing baby’s fragile system.
And it’s not just the brain that is negatively impacted by fluoride. Several studies show an increased risk to the thyroid gland, which can directly undermine our metabolic function.
Once the metabolism gets knocked out of its normal functioning range, this can cause all sorts of other systems to down-regulate. None of this leads to a healthier, more vital life.
In other words, ‘downstream’ in the body, fluoride has no benefit, and the potential consequences that it can have are pretty substantial.
What about water fluoridation?
We have to choose our words carefully when discussing water fluoridation.
We do not in any way support this program. Protecting clean water is extremely important for us as a global culture, and we see no positive outcome from water fluoridation.
The research behind the proposed benefits of water fluoridation is full of holes. Truly, it is a very dark story that we choose to not focus on.
If we lived in a municipality that fluoridated its water supply, we would move, drill a well, or get a really, really good home water filtration system.
A filtration system for drinking water is good, but fluoride is pretty tough on filters, so they’ll need to be replaced regularly. To add insult to injury, we can absorb fluoride through our skin by showering in fluoridated water, so an entire home filter system is best.
Our holistic conclusion
If fluoride were the only compound on the planet that helped us resist decay and remineralize our teeth, we would have to reassess whether the benefits outweigh the risks.
However, there are other ways we can make our teeth very resistant to decay and even remineralize some cavities. We don’t have to introduce a compound that’s so widely recognized as a toxin in order to achieve our desired result of a cavity-free life.
We choose to apply the ‘precautionary principle’ toward fluoride: better safe than sorry. For us, the risks are greater than the benefits when it comes to using fluoride in the mouth.
That’s why our products, like the HealThy Mouth Blend and Shine Remineralizing Tooth Whitening Powder, do not contain any fluoride.
Want to take a deeper dive on how to stop tooth decay in your home? Download our FREE eBook, How to Stop Tooth Decay and Remineralize Your Teeth.
Wrapping up…
So, as we wrap up this deep dive into dentistry’s nasty little F-word, it really comes back to your own value judgment of the risks vs. benefits.
We hope this article has provided you with helpful information to assist you as you decide whether using fluoride is a wise choice for you and your loved ones.
Feel free to check out the final entry in this series: Putting together the pieces to reverse tooth decay and remineralize cavities.
Helpful, Related Resources:
How to Stop Tooth Decay and Remineralize Your Teeth [FREE eBook]
How to stop tooth decay and remineralize cavities [article]
How teeth decay (part 2 of how to stop tooth decay) [article]
The ‘perfect storm’ for decay (part 3 of how to stop tooth decay) [article]
How to Tell if Your Oral Hygiene Products are Holistic or Not [article]
5 Steps to a Healthy Mouth [[free video tutorial course]]
How to reverse tooth decay with diet (part 4 of how to stop tooth decay) [article]
HealThy Mouth Blend [product solution]
Shine Remineralizing Tooth Whitening Powder [product solution]
Putting together the pieces to reverse tooth decay and remineralize cavities [article]
Sources:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2001). Recommendations for using fluoride to prevent and control dental caries in the United States. Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Review 50(RR14):1-42.
- Neurobehavioural effects of developmental toxicity: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24556010?dopt=Abstract
- Developmental Fluoride Neurotoxicity: Choi et al. Respond: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621205/
Wonderful Article, very useful for me and you write up very well so easily understanding for readers. Thanks for sharing and keep posting knowledge like this.
thanks for share a new ideas to gain a good ideas about an dental care.i wish to share with my neighbours to get a dental treatments without fearness.
My attempt at making a comment unfortunately got erased, so I will very briefly reconstruct it.
++ fluoridation of the water supply amounts to a mass medication of the population without their consent and is a clear violation of civil rights.
++ The notion if fluoridating the water supply was first conceived not by medical or dental authorities, but by corporate and industrial interests who had ended up with large quantities of fluoride as an industrial waste product.
++ these corporate interests initiated a huge multi million dollar PR campaign to convince the public that fluoride prevented tooth decay.
++ The result was that the politicos carried the ball and initiated the fluoridation if the water supply in aporoximately 80% of the communities in the U.S.
++ The aforementioned corporate interests thus were not only saved the large expense of disposing of a very toxic waste product, but instead made a nice profit by selling fluoride to the various communities.
++As I recall one if these corporate interests was the ALCOA company, beginning with their operations in Florida.
++ I should add that fluoridation of the water supply is banned in the European Union. Several of the members of the panel recommending the banning of water fluoridation were Nobel Prize Laurates.
++ Shame. Shame on the CDC for calling the fluoridation of the water supply among the top ten advances in public health in the twentieth century. The know better.
I grew up in a city that put fluoride in the water and I still had lots of cavities! I moved to Kauai in 1988 and did not think about fluoride until our first child came along. Our pediatrician recommended fluoride drops. I did some research and decided it was not for us. Luckily the dentist we used (now retired) honored our decision not to use fluoride. He even expressed that he believed that weak or strong teeth were more about genetics than whether someone used fluoride or not. Your blog info has shown its a lot more than genetics! Our current dentist is less “enthusiastic” about our no-fluoride choice, but 3 kids later they all know not to ask us anymore if we want dental sealants or fluoride rinse. Mahalo for all the good “mouthing off” of you do to help us all be better informed and have more choices.
Fluoride is highly toxic and a cumulative poison, like lead, arsenic, and mercury. I have asked many forced-fluoridation fanatics to tell me how much accumulated fluoride in the body they think is safe. So far not a single one of them has been able to answer the question.
https://forcedfluoridationfreedomfighters.com/a-preliminary-investigation-into-fluoride-accumulation-in-bone/
It is unlikely to just be a coincidence that the US, Australia, and Ireland, which have had high rates of forced-fluoridation for decades, also have high rates of joint problems, and poor health outcomes in general.
There are remineralizing toothpastes with hydroxyapatite as an ingredient. I would think that would be better than using fluoride and forming fluoroapatite. After reading the results section of a few NIH studies on toothpastes with hydroxyapatite I figured it was worth trying one. I’ll know if it has helped when I have my check-up in a few weeks. Though the natto may have helped too…
Aloha Sue,
We completely agree with your thinking that hydroxyapatite is a sounder solution than fluoride. In the spirit of increasing awareness, when we apply hydroxyapatite to our teeth, it forms hydroxyapatite, what our teeth are made of. However, when we apply fluoride to the teeth that the natural hydroxyapatite molecule isn’t formed, but fluorapatite is formed instead.
The problem we have found with products containing hydroxyapatite is they have other ‘stuff’ that really doesn’t belong in the mouth (from our very opinionated opinions). However, sit tight as we have some really big news that we’ll share in a week or so. I think you’re going share our excitement. 🙂
I hope you make your announcement soon! I am working to help re-mineralize my two little boys teeth and have not had much success so far.
Aloha Allyson!
We had hoped we could have already made the announcement! So, trust me, just as soon as we can, we’ll holler and let you know! I look forward to hearing how your boys do with these strategies!
According to my research, fluoride also seems to be a reproductive toxin, and fluoride rinses are less effective than other options (phosphates, if I remember correctly).
The body uses calcium to help excrete excess fluoride, so the calcium fluoride often found naturally in water is probably safer (because any excess is more readily cleared, thanks to the accompanying calcium) — not to mention the fact that the calcium in it is also good for the teeth — than the sodium fluoride added to water and used in dentistry.
Actually, the vast majority of chemical used for water fluoridation is not pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride but the highly toxic waste product from the fertilizer industry in the southern states and China, hydrofluosilicic acid, which comes with contaminants such as arsenic, cadmium and other nasty entities.
Dr bob
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us Dr Bob.
It’s so touching to us when anyone shares their story on our blog and an honor when someone who has plenty of experience/study behind them like you comes on to support the development of the discussion.
Thank you and Aloha!
What you say about hydrofluosilicic acid is correct. However, it should be understood that pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride is also highly toxic. Fluoride is highly toxic, a cumulative poison, a developmental neurotoxicant, an enzyme poison, and an endocrine disruptor, regardless of where it comes from. There are actually millions of people suffering from skeletal fluorosis and other serious adverse health effects from naturally occurring fluoride in drinking water.
Agree, thanks!
Very good article and perfect timing for me. I’m a 68 yo diabetic female with type 1 for 50 years. My son introduced me to your products a couple years ago. I love them! I recently had my teeth cleaned by a new hygienist who talked me into putting fluoride on my teeth before I left. I was very uncomfortable with how I felt afterwards. It made me sick. I will never do it again.! Thank you
Will/Susan,
Good balanced article!
You also could mention that there never was any study that
definitively showed that flouride in the water helped tooth decay.
The whole idea of putting it in the water system when it works topically
is insane. This whole idea has been perpetuated by ill-informed dentists. The facts show that it is toxic. We need to let the public know that! Most people are going to believe what their health practitioner tells them. When their dentist tells them that flouride is good, they believe that. It’s not!
You also could mention that it causes osteosarcomas. I know that is controversial. BUT, who wants to potentially subject their children, with developing bone systems to a known carcinogen that attacks developing bone. It also crystalizes the pineal gland affecting our melatonin production and hence our sleep/wake cycles. You did mention the competition for the iodine receptors on the thyroid. Good! So, many people are thyroid deficient now in our society. Why introduce something that will multiply the problem.
The WISE choice is not to use it at all!
Anyway, love that you are doing good work! Had a patient the other day who reads you religiously!
Best,
Eric
Aloha Dr Eric,
Wow, you always have really good stuff to share when you stop by to bring your expertise to our discussions!
As always, thank you for adding to the blog. It’s an honor to have such distinguished professionals chiming in to support the discussion.
Thank you and Aloha!
What is the best system to use to eliminate fluoride from the entire house? A brand name as well??
Thanks!
Claudia
A reverse osmosis system will remove fluoride from your water. You need a very specific filtration system, as most filters do not remove fluoride. I am fortunate that they do not put fluoride in the water where I live, so I don’t have any first hand recommendations.