Response to Over-Fluoridation

The New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF) commented on my last post. They included an article talking about medical cases when people received too much fluoride in their diet and how their bodies reacted. They hit on some of the same points I already have, including skeletal fluorosis where a patient looses bone strength and mobility throughout their entire body. In the first case, a man acquired arthritic-like pain and it lead to limited neck mobility. When the scientists studied his habits, they noted that he was not getting any fluoride from outside sources such as fluoridated water, tea, or wine. He was ingesting fluoride when he brushed his teeth with fluoride toothpaste. He brushed before and after every meal, amounting to at least six times a day. After stopping his use of fluoride toothpaste and continuing to stay away from other foods and drinks that had fluoride in them, his symptoms of skeletal fluorosis decreased. The article states it took the man eight months going fluoride-free to get a significant reduction in his symptoms. After two years the man had finally regained all of his neck mobility. The article briefly mentioned other cases of skeletal fluorosis and how those people were affected.

I found this article to be quite interesting. It gave a few examples of what people have experienced from receiving too much fluoride. It was interesting to see what the people were eating or doing to receive so much fluoride. From the main case in the article, it baffled me to learn that someone brushed their teeth SIX times a day! This seemed a little outrageous to me, especially since many people do not brush their teeth twice a day. I didn’t understand his reasoning of brushing his teeth before he ate, since he was going to eat and then brush again. Besides the shock of his routine, I was surprised to find out that the man was only getting fluoride from his toothpaste. Right away I assumed he was brushing with fluoride toothpaste and mouth wash, as well as drinking fluoridated water. I was started to find that his condition was from the toothpaste alone, because I had never heard of a case like this before. It seems understandable to me now, because fluoride toothpastes are advertised and sold for the fluoride. The man subjected his body to six doses of fluoride and had troubling side effects. This case shows the toothpastes must have a large amount of fluoride in them, much more than fluoridated water systems have since a person probably drinks water from the faucet more frequently than they brush their teeth with fluoride. It appears that a solution for this man could have been to alternate the toothpaste he used throughout the day if he felt like toothpaste was necessary. (If you recall, in an earlier post I found several sources stating that brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and the other times throughout the day only with water would be significant.) If the man had followed these suggestions he could have reduced the amount of fluoride he was taking in and thus, may have been able to prevent his skeletal fluorosis. The cases the NYSCOF documented were eye-openers, showing that over-fluoridation can be a serious matter. It troubles me however, that a dental professional was unable to catch the symptoms before they got so extreme. I feel this article proves that people need to be better educated about the effects of fluoride to their body and how they may control their fluoride intake. If people are better informed, there may be fewer people suffering from skeletal fluorosis and more people actually helping their teeth, not hurting their bodies.