Water Fluoridation Must Stop Essay

Another issue of controversy is the safety of the chemicals used to fluoridate water. The most commonly used additives are silicofluorides, not the fluoride salts used in dental products (such as sodium fluoride and stannous fluoride). Silicofluorides are one of the by-products from the manufacture of phosphate fertilizers. The toxicity database on silicofluorides is sparse and questions have been raised about the assumption that they completely dissociate in water and, therefore, have toxicity similar to the fluoride salts tested in laboratory studies and used in consumer products (Coplan and Masters 2001). It also has been maintained that, because of individual variations in exposure to fluoride, it is difficult to ensure that the right individual dose to protect against dental caries is provided through large-scale water fluoridation. In addition, a body of information has developed that indicates the major anticaries benefit of fluoride is topical and not systemic (Zero et al. 1992; Rölla and Ekstrand 1996; Featherstone 1999; Limeback 1999a; Clarkson and McLoughlin 2000; CDC 2001; Fejerskov

Fluoride in drinking water has been a hot topic in the past decade. Some communities are all for it and some are completely against it. With such a range of opinions on the matter some organizations have took it upon themselves to present the pros and cons of the fluoride to the public so they can make informed decisions. Often times these surveys are bias to one side or the other, so I shall be giving information on both sides of the issue, the future outlook, and my personal opinion in order to help inform you to decide on your own.

Fluoridation of group drinking water is a main consideration in charge of the decrease in dental caries (tooth rot) . The historical backdrop of water fluoridation is a great case of clinical perception prompting epidemiologic examination and group based general wellbeing intercession. Albeit other fluoride-containing items are accessible, water fluoridation remains the most fair and practical strategy for conveying fluoride to all individuals from most groups, paying little respect to age, instructive achievement, or wage level.

to neurotoxicity, development of osteosarcoma and interference with biochemical systems. Further exploration into these studies raised alarm bells in their relevance to the ‘fluoride debate’. For example I found the amount of fluoride being used in many studies to be well above any reported daily human consumption, for example Ge Y et. El. (30) Used 100mg doses (there was no mention of frequency) to prove a link between fluoride and apoptosis of brain cells. Other studies undertaken usually had too many variables, for example Liu H et. El attempted to study the effect of fluoride on male fertility using a population with high fluoride intake and another with low. The study doesn’t take into account other variables such as diet, volume / frequency of fluoride intake or genetics. The conclusions being drawn where tenuous, with, in my opinion, no conclusive evidence to prove the hypothesis, with the studies mentioning further research is

Fluoride has been used by people for many decades. The most common use is in toothpaste. Fluoride was added to toothpaste to lower the amount of dental cavities that one gets, and works by protecting the enamel (outer hard layer over the tooth). Another use of fluoride is in drinking water. It was added to drinking water to also help with tooth decay. Many people are debating whether or not this is truly safe. In the essay, “The Fluoride Conspiracy”, by Laurie Higgs, she talks about the use of fluoride drinking waters and dangers it brings by using logos, pathos, and ethos.

Fluoride has been shown to be toxic and affects the brain and kidney when ingested. Research lasting one year has demonstrated that a very small quanitity of fluride added to water was suffiecient to cause changes to the kidney and brain could lead to Alzheimer’s. Fluoride allows aluminium a heavy metal to cross the blood brain barrier which can therefore cause this sickness associated with this element.

Few object to the therapeutic use of fluoride to stop tooth decay, but fluoridation, the addition of fluoride to the public water supply, can spark avid controversy. Most dentists, medical groups, and government officials argue that fluoridation is a cheap and risk-free venture that doubles cavity prevention. In contrast, a small minority of dentists and conservative political groups argue that fluoride is a hazardous, poisonous substance that should not be consumed. Some antifluoridationists even claim that fluoridation is an untrustworthy form of socialized medicine. But rather than just attacking fluoridation as socialized medicine, opponents originally claimed that it was a conspiracy to poison or brainwash Americans through

According to World Health Organization data obtained from a study on 12 year old’s levels of tooth decay, fluoride has had very little effect, if any at all, on tooth decay. Countries such as Japan, Italy, and Iceland, who are non-fluoridated countries, actually have about the same level of tooth decay decrease as countries that have fluoridated water. Fluoride is considered a drug, according to the FDA, which means that it is a medical treatment. Medical treatments are not to be given unless the patient agrees to the treatment, therefore, placing fluoride into the public water supply violates informed consent seeing as how citizens are not given the opportunity to vote on the matter. Even if people could vote on the situation, not all people are going to agree with and since it is considered a drug, it

Recent research, however, has consistently shown it to be an insufficient and not an effective form of prevention to tooth decay. In the most largely conducted longitudinal study following infants through childhood, there has been no correlation with increased fluorine concentration in water and decreased tooth decay (Warren, 2008). Yet, there was a correlation between increased water fluoridation and increased dental fluorosis (Warren, 2008). These results align closely with that of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDR) study conducted in 1986-1987. When water fluoride concentration was less than 0.3mg/L, 55.5% children were shown to have tooth decay, while the children with dental fluorosis was 14.6% (Yiamouyiannnis, 1990). However, as the water fluoride concentration increased to over 1.2mg/L, the incidence of children with tooth decay was 56.4%, while the incidence of children with fluorosis rose significantly to 40.5% (Yiamouyiannnis, 1990). Fluoridation of water has also been shown to be

population that are on public water systems have access to fluoridated water. In order to truly make a change and improve the overall oral health of American citizens, each state needs to raise this number to 100%. The CDC estimates that the return investment for community water fluoridation, including productivity losses, ranged from $4 in small communities of 5,000 people or less, to $27 in large communities of 200,000 people or more. Nearly everyone would enjoy the benefits of the community water fluoridation which include having to deal with fewer cavities that are less severe, less need for fillings, and a greater chance for teeth not reaching such an unhealthy state that they need to be removed. It’s no wonder why community water fluoridation is recommended by the American Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, US Public Health Service, and World Health

Twelve studies conducted gathered data linking fluoride to neurobehavioral defects. Forty five studies have reported that rodents dosed with fluoride have impaired learning capacity, not surprisingly studies with human subjects gathered data that agrees with experiments ran on animals, experiments conducted on human subjects found that high fluoride exposure reduces human intelligence. While individually each these experiments do not have conclusive data on the dangers of water fluoridation, as an accumulative body of research there is enough evidence to draw the conclusion that water fluoridation does much more harm than good to all persons exposed to fluoride (Fluoride Action Network,

One commonly referenced paper describes a meta-analysis of studies done on fluoride’s effect on neurobehavioral development. This meta-analysis showed a decrease in IQ of children who lived in areas with high fluoride exposure and is often cited in arguments against the institution of water fluoridation . Many other experiments into fluoride toxicity has shown similar results and are often used by anti-fluoridation organizations to support their claims. These more scientific founded bases form the crux of the majority of theorists’ beliefs in water fluoridation. Namely, they adamantly believe that fluoride is either unsafe or at least ineffective according to the studies and experiments they have read. With only this information to go on they believe that the possible cons outweigh the possible pros, in this way they maintain a rationality behind their beliefs that adheres to the anti-fluoridation

Fluorine is added in water in certain countries and used in toothpaste so that it can strengthen people’s teeth.

Fluoride is an ion which comes from the element fluorine (9th on the periodic table). It’s an abundant element found in the Earth’s crust and it is never found in its free state in nature. Rather, “fluoride only will exist in combination with other elements, in compounds such as Sodium fluoride or Sodium fluorosilicate” (NSW Health 2015). The naturally present fluoride in water combines with these other elements as water passes over or through rocks and minerals. Typically, underground water sources, such as the aquifer, will have higher levels of fluoride than surface water sources such as rivers and lakes. Across the United States, the “natural levels of fluoride can vary between very minute quantities to over 4 mg/L” (ADA 2005). In addition,

Credibility Statement: As a person who has been brushing his teeth for many years without knowing the effects that fluoride can cause, I decided to do extensive research on the topic to find out what we are really putting in our bodies.