The dental profession has embraced a full range of fluoride treatments, including topical fluoride, fluoride in tooth paste and fluoridation of the water supply. For many dentists, to be against fluoride is the craziest thing that they have ever heard of- why would anyone be against anything that prevents tooth decay and is so good for you?
But Is This the Real Story About Fluoride?
Fluoride actually has two issues, one topical application in the dental office or tooth paste, the other is water fluoridation. Research has shown that fluoride only works in a topical manner. Fluoride interacts with hydroxyl-apatite to form fluorhydroxyapatite, which is more resistant to dissolving in the acids produced by the decaying bugs. In addition, fluoride is an anti-metabolite of bacteria (plaque). But there are other factors involved in bacteria control that is, plaque in our mouth- including nutrition, genetics, oral hygiene and salivary flow. More to the point, fluoride is a known xenobiotic, or toxin. In fact, a NIH panel concluded that “most tooth decay research is poorly done and lack of fluoride doesn’t cause decay but poor diet does.”
Many dentists and some professional organizations (ADA) that proclaim to be science-based in their decisions, when they really examine the science find that only sodium fluoride has been studied for safety as a water additive; not Hydrofluorosilicic acid, which is the waste product of the phosphate fertilizer industry.
The Research on Fluoride
There have been a few courageous establishment dentists who have dared to speak out on this ‘hoax’. One prominent Canadian researcher, Dr. Hardy Limeback, has said, "Speaking as the head of preventive dentistry, I told them that I had unintentionally mislead my colleagues and my students. For the past 15 years, I had refused to study the toxicology information that is readily available to anyone…fluoride works topically, by coming in contact with tooth enamel. No study has shown a link between ingesting fluoride and lower rates of decay. Dentists have absolutely no training in toxicity, your well-intentioned dentist is simply following 50 years of misinformation from public health and the dental association, me too. Unfortunately, we were wrong." ~ Dr. Hardy Limeback, B.Sc., PhD in Biochemistry, DDS., Head of the Department of Preventive Dentistry University of Toronto, President of the Canadian Association For Dental Research.
The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), performed the task of revising fluoride in a comprehensive, scientific and unbiased manner in accordance with criteria established to assure the protection of the public safety. “The review of fluoride and resulting Public Health Goal of zero is the only acceptable exposure level to this common xenobiotic.” www.iaomt.org
In the next blog I will explore this fluoride issue further, discussing the health problems with too much fluoride as documented in the scientific research.
Mark McClure, DDD, FAGD, is a biological dentist at National Integrated Health Associates, a leading integrative medical and dental center serving Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Dr. McClure has a national reputation as a leader in holistic and biological dentistry, which views the mouth as an integral part of the entire body and uses safe, effective, non-toxic, biocompatible dental treatments and materials. He has been practicing mercury free dentistry for 25 years.
