To most people, fluoride is most commonly known as an ingredient in toothpaste or something you receive at the dentist’s office in order to ‘prevent’ cavities and tooth decay, especially for children. 

This is because research once linked high levels of naturally occurring fluoride to low levels of tooth decay.  Because of this theory, starting in the 1940s, fluoride was added to tap water under the assumption it would help prevent tooth decay and cavities, or so that’s the story. 

Today, fluoride can be found in 75% of the tap water throughout the United States (1).  This is NOT the case with many other countries across the world.

“Only about 2% of people receive artificially fluoridated water in Europe, with countries like the Netherlands and Italy rejecting the additive. Fluoridation is banned in China, due to cases of increased dental fluorosis from naturally occurring fluoride in their water supply” (2).

In fact, countries that do not fluoridate their water have also seen big drops in cavity rates, according to Harvard Public Health (3). One possibility here could be the fact that the fluoride put into our tap water is no longer a naturally occurring mineral, but engineered, which is a significant difference from the original research supporting fluoride. What we are using is actually an industrial by-product sodium fluoride.

The reason we should be concerned with fluoride being added to our tap water is the mounting evidence showing fluoride exposure linked to arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, endocrine disruption, gastrointestinal effects, infertility and most noticeably reduced intelligence (2).

“Fluoride seems to fit in with lead, mercury, and other poisons that cause chemical brain drain. The effect of each toxicant may seem small, but the combined damage on a population scale can be serious, especially because the brain power of the next generation is crucial to all of us.”

~ Philippe Grandjea, Harvard Scientist

The U.S. National Toxicology Program released a systematic review of all published studies evaluating the potential neurotoxicity of fluoride.

Keep in mind that systematic reviews and meta analysis are the top of the heap when it comes to quality in scientific literature. We are not talking about a rogue study here or there. We are talking about complete reviews and analysis of the entire body of literature we have on this. It’s no longer unclear that fluoride is a major concern.

This review showed that children who were exposed to higher amounts of fluoride during early brain development scored about 3 to 7 points lower on their IQ tests” (1).

A separate systematic review and meta-analysis performed by the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed possible associations with IQ measures in more than 8,000 children of school age.

In this Harvard review, 26 of the 27 studies that met inclusion criteria found a relationship between elevated fluoride and reduced IQ. They concluded that fluoride’s effect on the developing brain of children should be a high research priority (4).

This is because fluoride is undoubtedly considered a neurotoxin, which means it harms the neurological system.  The discrepancy comes when deciding at what point is it harmful.

All neurotoxins, just like lead and mercury, are best to be avoided as much as possible.  In an environment where we’re bombarded daily with heavy metals, pesticides, and air pollution, it only makes sense to avoid as many offenders as possible.

The fact that the United States continues to add fluoride to tap water and continues using fluoride as a common part of dental practices doesn’t fall in line with our best interests as far as health is concerned.

A great resource, the Fluoride Action Network, has a well organized website on all of the hundreds of studies we have on this. They outline over 400 studies (5).

They link up the following:

— Over 200 animal studies showing that prolonged exposure to varying levels of fluoride can damage the brain, particularly when coupled with an iodine deficiency, or aluminum excess

— 65 human studies linking moderately high fluoride exposures with reduced intelligence;

— Over 60 animal studies reporting that mice or rats ingesting fluoride have an impaired capacity to learn and/or remember;

— 12 studies (7 human, 5 animal) linking fluoride with neurobehavioral deficits (e.g., impaired visual-spatial organization);

— 3 human studies linking fluoride exposure with impaired fetal brain development.

— 7 Mother-Offspring studies linking certain levels of fluoride in the urine of pregnant women to reduced IQ in their offspring.

Now, if healthy teeth is what you’re after, there are other factors to consider, which are somehow often missed when discussing tooth decay.  There are multiple factors but a very simple one – processed sugar. 

Sugar is a massive industry and if you’re looking at the ingredients in food, especially food catered to children, added sugars, particularly corn syrups, tends to be a leading ingredient.  

Using fluoride as a method to prevent cavaties is the equivalent to using glyphosate to prevent weeds in your garden. There will be downstream consequences and there are vastly better, safer, more effective approaches.

Before I would ever consider a conversation about fluoride to prevent tooth decay, diet and processed sugars must be addressed. Vitamin D and mineral uptake also crucial. That is a much safer and effective way towards healthy oral health and overall health for that matter.

So what can we do?

The best way to protect yourself from fluoride is to avoid using tap water, invest in a good water filter that removes fluoride, use a clean toothpaste and find a dentist that understands the risks of using fluoride in their treatment plans such as a biological dentist.

And hopefully, the United States will soon fall in line with the many other countries that have discarded the use of fluoride in tap water!

PRODUCTS TO REDUCE FLUORIDE INTAKE

Berkey Water Filter:

As of the date of this article, Berkey is having a big sale for Memorial Day. You can save some funds by buying now. Check out their filters here, my favorite is The Big Berkey if you have a family or if it’s just you, you can use the Travel Berkey.

In order to remove Fluoride with a Berkey water filter system, you’ll need to purchase the additional Fluoride filters, don’t forget to add them to your cart!

This is a great option for people who aren’t ready to install a permanent water filter in their home, but still want to have safe non-toxic water.

From Berkey’s Website: “Over 200 contaminants are removed with the Berkey water filter systems. The filters go above and beyond testing standards, using EPA and state-certified labs to test above the EPA and ANSI/NSF (Std. 53) protocol.

RiseWell Toothpaste:

A lot of toothpaste still contains Fluoride. A great alternate is RiseWell toothpaste that does not use any damaging ingredients and focuses on health.

What’s more is that it uses hydroxyapatite which actually helps REMINERALIZE teeth better than regular ol’ toothpaste. This truly is my favorite toothpaste of all time and the taste and texture is amazing!

Get 10% off with code DETOXDOC10 here.

REFERENCES

(1) https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/10-19-2020/review-of-the-revised-ntp-monograph-on-fluoride-exposure-and-neurodevelopmental-and-cognitive-health-effects-meeting-2

(2) Fluoride, Children’s Health Defense

(3) Is Fluoridated Drinking Water Safe, Harvard Public Health

(4) Impact of Fluoride on Neurological Development in Children, Harvard Public Health

(5) http://fluoridealert.org/issues/health/brain/