Comments on: A food systems perspective on fluoride

By: ploring

ploring — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:34:28 +0000

Further, let me just respond to the comment about African Americans and fluoridosis. Posting that statistic is both invalid and disingenuous, because it suggests that there was some controlled experiment which linked the two. But in fact these are just co-occuring numbers which say nothing about causality, nothing about the diets these people eat and what level of dental stress they’re under.

It would be like suggesting that since Eskimo peoples in the archaeological record showed a low occurrence of cavities, that must mean fluoride isn’t necessary, without mentioning the fact that they ate virtually no simple sugars. If you are in fact interested in bringing quality information to the public, out of what I assume is a genuine desire to help people live healthier lives, then I would hope that you’d first evaluate your own ability to understanding science before spreading bad information.

By: ploring

ploring — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:24:12 +0000

I’m afraid your flat-screen response betrays the problems beneath the fluoride critique, not my argument. Tooth decay, like any other health phenomenon, is complex, not a 1+1=2 equation. Sure, I had some cavities (i said ‘my share’, not ‘lots’ as you conveniently paraphrased it). However no one ever said that fluoride stops all cavities. Flossing daily is an essential personal health measure, one I unfortunately am still trying to make a habit.

As per the fact that the rate of caries is on the rise - you can correlate admittedly true trend with the proliferation of high fructose corn syrup, refined flours, and other sugars in the modern American diet. So, you are in fact supporting my argument - that communities are even more vulnerable to dental health stress than they were before. If you think the rate is unacceptable now, take fluoride out of people’s water without first implementing some alternate socialized prevention mechanism, and watch as the results of that “experiment” unfold. To me, that would just be immoral.

Fluoride occurs naturally in many watersheds, and like I said, is indeed a toxic substance at toxic levels. Fluoridosis, the only proven outcome of fluoride intake that occurs below recognized toxic levels, has never been shown to be anything other than a cosmetic annoyance. I agree that it seems ironic that it has become a good new revenue source for dentists, but that speaks to the media and what our culture teaches our children to value in terms of their own personal appearance more than it does to fluoride.

By: nyscof

nyscof — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:40:44 +0000

You disproved your own theory by stating you had lots of cavities although your grew up consuming and applying several forms of fluoride.

The evidence is in - tooth decay is highest in low-income Americans regardless of fluoride intake.

After 60 years of fluoridation reaching virtually every American vis the water or food supply and with fluoridated toothpaste in almost every US home, tooth decay is rising along with fluoride overdose symptoms - dental fluorosis, white spotted, yellow, brown and sometimes pitted teeth.

The CDC tells us that up to 48% of US school chidlren now sport dental fluorosis which has created a new lucrative market for dentistry. Covering up fluorosis costs upwards to tens of thousands of dollars to hide.

African Americans have the highest rates of tooth decay along with the highest rates of dental fluorosis.

Fluoridation was a foolish experiment and should be stopped.