At a recent dentist visit with my 6 year old, I had a very interesting encounter that left a bad taste in my mouth (pun intended). The topic in question was fluoride gel treatment which I had vehemently refused for my son’s teeth. Needless to say, it didn’t go over so well and amongst other things my parenting skills came into question for refusing this "essential" dental treatment. Luckily there are plenty of good, open-minded dentists here in our city and I have since switched my family to what I would say is much better care. But all this had me thinking about whether or not that fluoride treatment we are often pushed upon by our dentists is really all that beneficial? Or even essential, as it has been promoted to me?

Prehistoric humans didn’t possess sophisticated electric toothbrushes, tootpastes with microbeads or fluoride varnishes yet their mouths, for the most part, were alot healthier than ours today.

Yet somehow here we are in the 21st century and our protocol is to fluoridate our water systems, use floride toothpastes and have our 6 months olds undergo fluoride varnish treatments anywhere from 2 to 4 times a year! So much fluoride but exactly how safe is it and are we truly aware of how much of this stuff we are consuming?

For the past 100 years, since fluoride has been introduced into our health and dental routine, research has found that it is an effective way of preventing tooth decay and cavities. When tooth enamel comes in contact with fluoride it is strengthened, and what's more, the presence of fluoride in saliva facilitates the absoption of calcium and phosphate so the damage can actually be reversed to a certain degree. Commercially available toothpastes also prevent the acid produced by plaque bacteria from dissolving, a process called demineralization which leads to cavities, and although it cannot repair cavities, it can prevent new ones from forming.

However....there's a catch!

Through extensive research we now know that too much fluoride can be dangerous both to our dental health and the rest of our bodies.

The most common adverse effect is Dental Fluorosis. During tooth development, which occurs in kids ages 0 to 8 years old, incorporating fluoride in the formation of enamel tissues will strengthen it, but on the other hand too much of it can lead to stained and pitted teeth... and in some instances even increase the risk of tooth decay. This condition affects a whopping 41% of kids in the US between the ages of 12-15.

In extreme cases excess fluoride becomes incorporated into the bones and results in pains, limited movement and disfiguration. This condition is called skeletal fluorosis, though such cases are rare and usually found in areas where naturally occurring fluoride levels are above the safety limits.

But fluorosis is not the only problem with fluoride. A recent Harvard study has found that Fluoride has an impact on the neurological development in children (Environmental Health Perspectives - article July 20, 2012). Researchers were able to do a comprehensive meta-analysis on the IQ performance of 8000 school-aged children that were exposed to fluoride in their drinking water and have found an average loss of 7 IQ points. Therefore children in high-fluoride areas had significantly lower IQ scores than those in low-fluoride areas. The top Harvard professors are comparing fluoride's toxic effects on the brain to the likes of such neurotixins as lead and mercury. In march 2014, one of the world’s leading medical journals The Lancet published a report which officially classifies fluoride as a neurotoxin, linking it to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and other cognitive impairments. What's even more alarming, the Lancet report goes further to state that:

"untested chemicals should not be presumed to be safe to brain development,

and chemicals in existing use and all new chemicals must therefore be tested for developmental neurotoxicity".

Because of the indicative risks associated with fluoride, there have been numerous campaigns launched worldwide to remove the chemical from our water supplies. For those of you who are not aware, both Canada and the United States have been adding fluoride to our drinking supply since the 1940s at the recommendation of the ADA (American Dental Association) which has called water floridization:

"one of the safest and most beneficial, cost-effective public health

measures for preventing, controlling and in some reversing tooth decay".

On the other hand, most European countries don’t and never have fluoridated their water. The European Commission has found no advantage to adding fluoride to their drinking water versus topical applications such as toothpastes. As the debate on water floridization rages one, what’s a parent to do?

According to the ADA the daily safety limits for fluoride are somewhere between

0.7 - 1.2ppm, however it is very difficult to control because the chemical is not only added to our water supply and found in our dental products, it is also in our produce, dairy and even infant formula. Other sources of fluoride include processed foods, Teflon pans, pesticides, teas and mechanically deboned meat.

Here are some tips to reduce fluoride exposure:

Do not let your child swallow fluoridated toothpaste, as this is the largest single source of fluoride intake for a young child. Many children exceed the daily recommended fluoride intake from toothpaste alone. In my house, we have now switched to fluoride-free toothpaste because it was simply too difficult to avoid toothpaste ingestion;

Do not get fluoride gel treatment at the dentist’s office. The ADA’s own recommendations state that "patients whose caries risks is low, may not receive additional benefit from professional topical fluoride application". Their definition of low risk is any and all age groups of patients who have not had a cavity within the last 3 years;

Eat more organic, fresh produce as it contains least amount of pesticides - and avoid processed foods, especially processed drinks such as sodas, reconstituted juices and sports drinks;

Reduce your consumption of black and green tea as these plants naturally contain high levels of fluoride;

Avoid cooking with Teflon-coated cookware;

Pay attention to the meat you buy. Mechanical deboning process increases the quantity of meat in products such as chicken fingers and chicken nuggets. However this method leaves large amounts of bone particles (significant source of fluoride) inside the end-product.

Finally the importance of good nutrition should not be overlooked when talking about oral health. In the book "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration", the author and Harvard anthropology professor Weston A. Price looks at how native tribes the world over, who eat their traditional diets, had nearly perfect teeth, free of cavities and tooth decay. Once these tribes were introduced to our western diet loaded with sugar and white flour their perfect teeth quickly deteriorated. Eating wholesome, sugar and process-free foods can drastically improve one’ s overall dental health and can even remineralize tooth cavities up to 90-95 %.

Never underestimate the power of a healthy diet!