A Fluoride Anniversary

It has been 70 years since the United States first started adding fluoride to the municipal water supplies. Many legal battles to remove this toxin from our drinking water are in progress, but still this noxious chemical endures as a staple in our daily diet. 

Most   developed nations in the world have rejected fluoridation, including  97% of western Europe. The United States, which fluoridates more than 70% of its water supplies, is an exception to this rule. According to the British Fluoridation Society, there are more people drinking artificially fluoridated water in the United States than all other countries combined. That last bit of information can really make you think. 

So, after 7 decades of fluoridation, what are the statistics? 

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “as a result [of water fluoridation], dental caries declined precipitously during the second half of the 20th century.”  And they have all the statistics to back this up. 

Percentage Fluoridated Water vs. Number of Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth  

 

                       SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control (1999)

What the CDC failed to mention is that tooth decay rates have “precipitously declined” in all western countries, regardless of whether the country ever fluoridated its water or not. And since most (70%) western countries do not fluoridate their water, and yet their tooth decay rates have declined at the same rate as the U.S. and other fluoridated countries, then the fluoridation variable cannot be the determining cause. 

This fact can also be quickly demonstrated by examining the World Health Organization’s (WHO) data on tooth decay trends in each country.  The following graph compare the tooth decay trends in western countries with, and without, water fluoridation.

 

As you can see, the number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) has continually declined in the last 40 years regardless of water fluoridation.

As I have written before in my previous posting on The Flaws of Fluoride, studies have shown there is no benefit from ingesting fluoride. Topically, on the teeth, fluoride can help harden the enamel preventing decay. But so can other techniques that are more biocompatible to the body.  (See Oil Pulling post.)   

Fluoride is not  an essential nutrient. This means that no human disease – including tooth decay – will result from a “deficiency” of fluoride. But the harmful effects of over fluoridating, are many, as previously pointed out in The Flaws of Fluoride.  

Moving forward, one has to continue to take extra precautions in removing this useless poison from our drinking water.  I know I will. 

If you like this post, you may also like: The Flaws of Fluoride 

                                                                 Cooking with Fluoride?