Sold on Fluoride

Those of you who know I am a Dental Hygienist may not be too surprised that I am writing about something I promote all day at work and have been taught in all my classes is a good product. It probably isn't a shocker to you if you keep up on the latest dental info that Fluoride is a very controversial subject, at least when it comes to water fluoridation and the recommended Fluoride treatments.

To those of you who may be interested I decided to do a bit of my own research. I am not saying I questioned Fluoride, I just decided to look at what people who where opposed to it had to say. I did this mainly so I would have a greater knowledge of how to respond to these people. Some of the negative points I have heard are: it is a waste product, it destroys cells, it is toxic, it depresses your system, etc. I even saw a very convincing video by a dentist stating that Fluoride was not good; however, after all my research I can honestly tell you that Fluoride is very beneficial and should be promoted and used as currently recommended!

As with all products there should be some comparison, such as the two different types of filling materials. Unfortunately there is not another product to compare fluoride to so all you can do is look at the long studies of fluoride. When we see people who have grown up drinking well water they have very healthy bodies. The fluoride in this water is typically right around the recommended dosage. These people typically have very few cavities in comparison to a person who has not had fluoride. These people also have less broken bones than a person who does not have fluoride and they live just as long of lives and are not killed by "fluoride destroying their cells". In addition there are many products that we use today that are waste products and they are still beneficial, just like fluoride.

Hopefully you can't see by this very concrete research that fluoride is very safe and beneficial when used at the recommended dosages. Fluoride truly does help our bodies and teeth!