Despite numerous research pointing out the toxicity and harmful nature of fluoride, it continues to be added to the water supply. Being touted for its proposed benefits of reducing tooth decay and cavity development, fluoride is added to the water supplies of a significant number of cities and towns alike. Interestingly, research shows that the supposed benefits aren’t really what they appear at all, and that fluoride actually has no positive effect on reducing tooth decay or cavity development.
“For children’s dental health measures, it was found that fluoridation rates were not significantly related to the measures of either cavities or overall condition of the teeth for urban or rural areas,” the researchers write.
Since the 1940′s, fluoride has been added to the water supply as a claimed method of preventing tooth decay. It was once believed (and still believed by some), that the primary benefits for teeth resulted from fluoride ingestion during the tooth-forming years. However, it is now thought by scientists, dentists, and researchers, that fluoride’s primary benefit comes from topical treatment, and not from ingestion. Fluoride has also been shown to be ineffective at preventing tooth decay in the pits & fissures of teeth, which is where most decay occurs.
Research conducted by the Cochrane Oral Health Group shows how the ingestion of fluoride is ineffective at reducing tooth decay in primary teeth. Not only does the research show that fluoride supplements are ineffective, but health risks from fluoride supplementation aren’t even studied enough for the supplements to be pushed in the first place. It was found that fluoride supplements, which are heavily endorsed by the CDC, provide no more benefit than topical treatments, which is safer due to minimal fluoride ingestion.
Adding to the downfall of fluoride use in our water supplies, the ineffective tooth-protecting nature of fluoride is accompanied by some serious health-related downfalls. In 1997, it was shown that water fluoridation caused about 10,000 cancer deaths in epidemiological studies by Dr. Dean Burk, former head of the Cytochemistry Section at the National Cancer Institute and Yiamouyiannis. Another research paper documents how fluoride ingestion causes tumor growth rates to increase by 25% at only 1 ppm (part per million), while also producing melanotic tumors and increasing carcinogenesis of other chemicals.
Based on the research at hand, it is safe to say that fluoride ingestion should be avoided if at all possible. Investing in a reverse osmosis water filtration unit is one solution to reducing fluoride ingestion, while drinking distilled water for 3-6 months may also reduce the soft tissue fluoride levels.