Did fluoridation cause the current dental health crisis?

international | consumer issues | opinion/analysis

Wednesday December 11, 2013 23:15

by Carol S. Kopf, BS, MA

Science killed Fluoridation. Politics keeps it alive.

By mistakenly focusing on the drug fluoride, since 1945, dentists missed the opportunity to reduce tooth decay by promoting tooth-required nutrients such as calcium, Vitamins A, C and D. Could the current tooth decay epidemic in the US be attributed to that blunder?

The CDC bragged this week that 210.7 million Americans now live in fluoridated communities, up 15 million from 2008. The CDC says fluoridation is one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. But is it?

Fluoridation began in 1945 with the mistaken belief that ingested fluoride was required to prevent tooth decay. Modern science proves that fluoride is neither a nutrient nor essential for healthy teeth and that only topical application makes tooth enamel harder. Fluoridation gave rise to fluoride supplements, toothpaste, dental treatments, foams, varnish, mouthrines and more, making loads of money for corporations but doing little to help America’s teeth.

In 2000, the Surgeon General First Reported that poor dental health is an epidemic especially among low-income Americans. More studies and reports show nothing’s improved since then. The General Accounting Office (GAO) reported in 2008, that the “Extent of Dental Disease in Children Has Not Decreased, and Millions Are Estimated to Have Untreated Tooth Decay.” GAO estimates that 6.5 million children aged 2 through 18 in Medicaid had untreated tooth decay.

In 2012, The New York Times reported that dentists across the US say they are seeing more preschoolers at all income levels with 6 to 10 cavities or more CBS reported that "More preschoolers are showing up to dentists with 10 cavities or more.”

“’We have had a huge increase in kids going to the operating room,’ said Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, a pediatric dentist in Augusta, Me., and a spokesman for the American Dental Association. ‘We’re treating more kids more aggressively earlier,’” reported the NY Times.

The FDA says fluoride supplements are unapproved drugs. Toothpaste is an FDA-regulated drug for topical application.Like most drugs, fluoride has some nasty side effects ranging from stomach pains to brain deficits. And the CDC reports that up to 60% of adolescents are afflicted with fluoride overdose symptoms (dental fluorosis or discolored teeth). Yet 51% of them have cavities even though about 41% have sealants, too.

If organized dentistry focused on healthy diets instead of fluoride drugs maybe Americans would be less sick and would retain more fluorosis-free, cavity-free teeth.

The American Dental Association admits, but rarely broadcasts, that teeth need calcium, protein, phosphorus, vitamins A, C and D

Dentist Westin Price reported his research in the early 1900’s (Nutrition and Physical Degeneration) that good diets make good teeth without fluoride.

Toddlers with severe tooth decay are more likely to be deficient in vitamin D and Calcium (Schroth 201)

Levy’s Iowa Fluoride Study revealed that cavities were greater in children who didn’t eat breakfast and those who ate fewer than five servings of fruit and vegetables daily.

Instead, after almost 7 decades of water fluoridation, more than one quarter of US 2-5 year-olds have tooth decay - a 15% jump from a decade earlier And 48% of low-income preschoolers have cavities and 35% had untreated cavities (compared to 11.4% and 6% of preschoolers from higher income households, respectively)

An astounding 44% of all five-year-olds have cavities

To compare, only 25% of England’s five-year-olds have cavities yet, only 11% of England’s water supplies are fluoridated and children’s toothpaste is sold at half the fluoride concentration of US brands.

The US lags behind 10 other, mostly non-fluoridated, peer countries in cavity rates, according to WHO statistics.

A state of decay flourishes among older Americans, according to a report by Oral Health America.

Well-meaning but misguided dentists thought fluoride was their magic bullet to prevent tooth decay at a time when nutrients were discovered to prevent diseases, such as vitamin C preventing scurvy. The bad news is that there’s no magic bullet to cure or prevent tooth decay. The good news is that tooth decay is highly and easily preventable – with a nutritious diet and regular dental care. Avoid fluoride – it’s hazardous to your health.

Science killed Fluoridation. Politics keeps it alive.

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Did fluoridation cause the current dental health crisis?