- Swallowed fluoride is not essential to prevent cavities
and has no nutritional need, according to prominent dental researchers
who found that many American children ingest too much fluoride that can
decay teeth and damage bones.
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- "Current evidence strongly suggests that fluorides
work primarily by topical means through direct action on the teeth and
dental plaque. Thus ingestion of fluoride is not essential for caries prevention,"
report Warren and Levy in Dental Clinics of North America, April 2003.(1)
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- Fluoride, swallowed from water, foods & supplements
or absorbed from toothpaste, can create fluorosed (discolored) and, in
severe cases, brittle teeth.
-
- "There has been an increase in the prevalence of
fluorosis," reports Steven Levy, DDS, Professor, University of Iowa,
in the May 2003 Journal of the Canadian Dental Association(2) while cavities
in primary teeth are still a problem(3). "With more severe forms of
fluorosis, caries (cavity) risk increases because of pitting and loss of
the outer enamel," writes Levy.
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- Levy, also Principle Investigator of the Iowa Fluoride
Study, ongoing for more than a decade, measures children's fluoride intake,
food and beverage fluoride levels, and relates it to fluorosis, cavities
and bone development.
-
- "At low levels of chronic exposure such as with
optimally fluoridated water, fluoride appears to slightly increase trabecular
bone mass ...," writes Levy and Warren.
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- Other researchers report fluoride thickens but weakens
bones(4).
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- 90% of 3-month-olds, Levy studied, consumed over their
recommended 0.01 mg daily-fluoride-dose from water, supplements and/or
dentifrice. Some babies ingest over 6 mg fluoride daily, above what the
Environmental Protection Agency says is safe to avoid crippling skeletal
fluorosis(4).
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- "There is no specific nutritional requirement for
fluoride...given the increased prevalence of fluorosis, it may be necessary
to revise downward the adequate intake levels for fluoride," write
Levy and Warren.
-
- "The optimal level of fluoride intake is not known
with certainty," writes Levy.
-
- "Total fluoride intake is the true fluorosis risk
factor However, this is very difficult to quantify," writes Levy who
found:
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- * 77% of soft drinks had fluoride levels greater than
0.60 ppm (or 0.60 mg in approximately one quart)
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- * Two ounces daily baby chicken food provides their
maximum dose
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- * Children's specially-flavored toothpaste increases
fluoride ingestion
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- * Soy-based infant formulas deliver more fluoride than
milk-based
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- * Other foods high in fluoride: teas, dry infant cereals,
dried chicken, fish and seafood products
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- * Fluoridated water added to powdered concentrate ups
fluorosis risk
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- * Grape juices, especially white, contain very high
fluoride levels
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- * 42% of all tested juices and juice drinks had fluoride
levels greater than 0.6 ppm
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- * Fluoride supplements are generally not recommended
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- * Cereals processed in a fluoridated area contained from
3.8 to 6.3 ppm fluoride
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- "Since systemic fluoride is non-essential and ineffective,
fluoridation is scientifically indefensible, harmful and should cease,"
says lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to
Fluoridation.
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- References:
-
- (1) "Current and future role of fluoride in nutrition,"
Warren & Levy, Dental Clinics of North America 47(2003) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12699229&dopt=Abstract
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- (2) "An Update on Fluorides and Fluorosis,"
Levy, Journal of the Canadian Dental Association, May 2003 http://www.cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-69/issue-5/286.pdf
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- (3) News Release "Iowa Fluoride Study marks 10 years
of studying children's dental health," Dec. 11, 200l http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2001/december/1211fluoride-study.html
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- (4) http://www.slweb.org/fluoride-bone.html
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- (5) http://www.oehha.ca.gov/water/phg/referenced_docs/fluor_c.html
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- http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/drinking/standards/dwstandards.pdf
-
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- For more information, contact: Paul S. Beeber President
& General Counsel New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation
nyscof@aol.com
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- Web site: http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof
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