One of the most difficult things in the world can be combating what is known as "popular wisdom", the commonly held belief that something is true, a belief which has existed for so long that it is accepted without question. There are many examples of popular wisdom which are wrong, and many people who will argue to their dying breath that it's the truth.
One thing that is known by most Americans is that fluoride is essential for healthy teeth. To this end, we fluoridated that water in many US municipalities, to make sure that even poor people, who couldn't buy toothpaste or afford good dental care, could have less dental disease and cavities. We've been putting fluoride in our water for 40 or 50 years or so, a great achievement for equality and better living in the United States.
I was raised thinking fluoride in water was the greatest thing ever. I felt kinda sorry to think my hometown didn't have it (or probably didn't, I never really knew). Obviously fluoride was not only the reason why other kids got less cavities than I did, but it couldn't be harmful at all or we wouldn't be putting it in the water. I held on to vestiges of these beliefs long after other childhood myths (starting with the Easter Bunny and moving on through the infallibility of my goverment) died out. As recently as 5 years ago, I had the fluoride argument with someone, with me stating that it was a great thing.
The problem is, I was wrong. In fact, the whole fluoride in water thing is a giant pile of half-truths and misconceptions, and when you dig to the bottom of it, you find something that has little or no benefit for your teeth, and lots of potential for serious health consequences.
First of all, let's address the "healty teeth" issue. Although fluoride may be helpful dentally, it only helps when it's in contact with your teeth. When you are swallowing a drink of water, that water is present only briefly, a trace contact at best. It does little, if anything, to help your teeth. Fluoride in toothpaste or dental rinses, on the other hand, actually stays in contact with teeth and probably does help. I say "probably" because the toothpastes were ordered a few years back to stop saying it prevented cavities until they conducted a scientific study proving it -- and they never did. So it could be argued that even that is "popular wisdom" at this point.
Second, there's the toxicity issue. Fluoride is a known toxin -- even our toothpaste now has warning labels cautioning not to swallow it, and suggesting poison control if your child should happen to eat a whole tube. Sound like a joke? It isn't. In fact, toothpaste is so sweet these days it tastes like candy. And a 3-year-old isn't going to understand why you can put it in your mouth, but not swallow it. Acute fluoride poisoning can and does kill. It's rare, but it happens.
Third, there's long-term toxicity. This isn't the same thing as acute poisoning. However, fluoride is cumulative in the body. In other words, it builds up over time, instead of harmlessly excreting. As much as 50% of it stays in your bones and teeth. There is a condition known as skeletal fluorosis, which leads to brittle bones and premature death. It's often seen in parts of the world where the fluoride concentrations in the water are naturally high.
Health threats don't scare you? Think I'm some bunny-hugging tree-lover who's against scientific progress? Think I'm some loony shooting at paper dragons? Okay, then check your pocketbook. Putting fluoride into your water supply is EXPENSIVE. It adds quite a bit of money to your water bills over time.
Okay, so that's not enough either. Consider this, then: we get plenty of fluoride every day. It's in many of our beverages including soda, beer, and many fruit juice blends. It's in our vegetables because a lot of fertilizers contain fluoride compounds, which get into the soil and then into our food. We also irrigate with it and wash our food in it, and as I've mentioned, most municipal water is fluoridated. So you're getting fluoride in damn nearly everything you eat or drink in this country. We are, in fact, ingesting far more fluoride than we realize.
These are the "logical", non-extremist arguments. If I wanted to engage in scare tactics, I'd indulge myself by glutting on the orgy of articles showing tentative links between fluoride and various types of cancers (mostly bone and liver), miscarriages, and other scary things. These links have not been conclusively proven, nor has it been shown that the illnesses are not the cause of some other co-existing problem, so personally, I'm inclined to keep a watchful eye on the studies, but not take them too seriously just yet. I don't need to anyway -- I've heard enough.
Our city council is about to have yet another vote on whether to stop fluoridating the local water. I doubt it will pass. It never has before.
For the first time, though, I wish it would. I'm no longer sold on the notion of putting fluoride in our water supplies. The benefits seem minimal at best, and the potential risks far too serious to ignore.
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