What Is Fluoride?
Fluoride is a naturally occurring compound that is very common in the environment. It is usually found almost everywhere: water, soil, plants, rocks, and sometimes even in the air we breathe.
According to Chemistry, the chemical is the negative ion of fluorine that is usually bound to an alkyl group. It is a monoatomic and inorganic anion with salts that are usually colorless and odorless. Typically, the salts have a distinctive taste caused by bitterness.
Fluoride is also found in our bones and teeth. It is well known to help prevent and even reverse the early development of dental decay.
Scientists have studied and shown that the chemical promotes oral health in two ways: when it is ingested, it helps the teeth develop and make them more durable, and when it is applied to the enamel or the very surface of the teeth, it helps rebuild, remineralize, and strengthen the surface of the teeth.
It also prevents the acid produced by bacteria that reside in tartars and plaques from demineralizing the enamels of the teeth.
In some ways, fluoride has increased its popularity for many manufacturers. Due to its oral health benefits, it has become the main medium in creating most dental products.
Since many experts have proven its positive effects on people, companies such as Colgate and other big personalities encourage the community to use products with the standard amount of fluoride to improve their oral hygiene and health.
Furthermore, having good, strong teeth boosts confidence and smiles and helps the government save a portion of its budget allotted to community health.
Instead of spending too much on maintaining people’s oral health, they could allocate the money to other things and help those who truly need it.
What are the Uses and Effects of Fluoride on Human Beings?
For more than 60 years, the naturally occurring chemical fluoride has been helping people and companies because of its benefits for oral health.
As its main benefit, fluoride protects and helps our teeth resist tooth decay by strengthening the surface of our teeth -commonly called enamel. For instance, when a tooth gets partially moldered, the chemical helps rebuild and remineralize the enamel. Furthermore, it would prevent additional tooth decay by fighting off cavities that destroy our teeth.
Thus, fluoride-rich dental products strengthen teeth, protect them from decay, and secure oral health against any issues or problems.
In addition, these products distribute small amounts of fluoride throughout our mouths. The fluoride blends in with our saliva, constantly exposing our enamels.
However, despite its great benefits, fluoride has a downside. When exposed to a large amount or too much fluoride, the body can experience various harmful effects, including the risk of having fluoride-related health problems.
Suppose a person happens to be exposed or has consumed an amount of fluoride greater than the standard minimum amount. In that case, this person has a greater possibility of having diseases such as dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis, and other thyroid and neurological problems.
Dental fluorosis is caused by too much fluoride in the enamel. One of the main symptoms is white streaks or specks on the surface of the teeth. It is common among children under six because their teeth are still developing and delicate. However, this disease does not generally affect the health of our teeth.
Conversely, Skeletal fluorosis can cause serious damage to the body, specifically to the bones. When exposed to too much fluoride, the bones can become stiff and less elastic, increasing the possibility of fractures. This may also increase the size or thickness of bone parts near our joints, making our movements rigid.
Too much fluoride can also impair the parathyroid glands, causing Hyperparathyroidism. In this disease, hormones are abnormally produced, depleting the calcium in our bones and putting us at a higher risk of fractures.
Additionally, the disease increases the calcium concentration in the blood, which could interfere with brain and heart function and create kidney stones.
Experts have also shown that babies with mothers exposed to high fluoride concentrations develop poorer cognitive abilities and have lower scores on IQ tests.
Some studies from the IAOMT or the International Association of Oral Medicine and Toxicology found that there are also several other health risks where fluoride was the main factor or indicator of why it happened.
Such health risks include high blood pressure, hypertension, skin problems, issues in our productive system, health problems related to the heart, joint disorders or immobility, cancer of the bones and teeth, damage to the myocardium, bone arthritis, irregular function of the thyroid glands, and even Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD.
Based on the results of their studies, IAOMT is an organization that strongly advocates the use or addition of fluoride to consumable products, especially water.
Due to these negative effects, the United States Food and Drugs Administration or FDA has issued a revised and approved standard amount of fluorides - 0.7 to 1.2 milligrams per liter - contained in the quality of provided tap water and produced bottled water to reduce these health risks on the consumers.
The Presence of Fluoride in Consumable Water
Fluoride is also added to consumable water because it is accessible, necessary for human survival, and widely consumed. Studies have proven that people who consume water with a certain amount of fluoride benefit from its effects.
This is why fluoride was added to tap water provided by water companies, which helped locals with their oral health. Tooth decay is very prevalent, especially in young children.
Since it improves the oral health of the locals, it also saves a portion of the local government's budget for community health. In addition, the manufacturers recommended adding the chemical to bottled water products in the right amount, as approved by the Centers for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, to increase the range of effectiveness of its benefits.
An amount of 0.7 mL per liter of water was the resulting data from the FDA experts as the optimal concentration of fluoride for the drinking water since it produced the best outcomes from the experiments conducted. It was found that only within this amount can help prevent tooth decay while not having a high risk of developing health problems such as fluorosis in the subjects' bodies.
The Usage of Fluoridated Water for the Baby’s Oral Health
Credible scientific organizations have done many reviews to determine the proper and safe methods regarding oral health. One of their debates includes water fluoridation since water is important and commonly used in many ways.
As discussed before, fluoride aids in preventing and further developing cavities in our teeth, thus preventing tooth decay. Although it is highly recommended to use toothpaste with fluoride as an ingredient, drinking water with this compound is still considered the most efficient and practical way of improving oral health among children and adults.
The ADA (American Dental Association) offers these recommendations to reduce fluoride intake from reconstituted infant formula.
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Breast milk is widely acknowledged as the complete form of nutrition for infants. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends human milk for all infants (except for the few for whom breastfeeding is determined to be harmful).
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For infants who get most of their nutrition from formula during their first 12 months, ready-to-feed formula is preferred to help ensure their fluoride intake does not exceed the optimal amount.
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Suppose liquid concentrate or powdered infant formula is the primary source of nutrition. In that case, it can be mixed with fluoride-free water or contains low fluoride levels to reduce the risk of fluorosis. Examples include water labeled purified, demineralized, deionized, distilled, and reverse-osmosis filtered. Many stores sell these types of drinking water for less than $1 per gallon.
Parents and caregivers should consult with their dentist, pediatrician, or family physician regarding the most appropriate water to use in their area to reconstitute infant formula. Ask your pediatrician or family physician whether water used in infant formula should be sterilized first (sterilization, however, will not remove fluoride).
Unless advised to do so by a dentist or other health care professional, parents should not use fluoride toothpaste in children younger than two years because they may inadvertently swallow the toothpaste.
Children 2 years and older should use an appropriate-sized toothbrush with a small brushing surface and only a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste at each brushing. They should always be supervised while brushing and taught to spit out rather than swallow toothpaste.
To know this, one should be able to contact the water provider. If you are using water from the well, you may have a professional or someone from your local health district test the water for fluoride contents.
Otherwise, if you use bottled water, check the indicated labels to see whether the liquid is fluoridated. If it happened to be fluoridated, how much fluoride does it contain? To be sure, you may contact the manufacturer using the contact number or contact details on the label for more information.
Once the baby is fed formula milk, nutritionists warn not to use fluoridated water to dissolve the formulated milk powder. A baby could take in a high fluoride concentration through the formulated milk created using fluoridated water.
Compared to breast milk, fluoridated water contains 200 to 250 times more fluoride, which can be toxic, especially to younger age groups or those still depending on liquid intake as a food source.
Records showed that children who were historically provided with fluoridated formula milk as infants have higher rates of dental fluorosis on their front teeth – the test results showed the disease's early stages. Other records showed that infants exposed to fluoridated formula milk grew with health problems such as thyroid impairment and lower-than-normal IQs.
As shown by the cases regarding the risk of fluorosis, most dental researchers advised that parents use water with a low amount of fluoride or, if possible, no fluoride when feeding their babies formulated milk.
Since this was known to public discourse, most states have warned people about it.
New Hampshire passed a bill requiring water providers and companies to regularly inform consumers of updates and warnings about infant fluorosis and other related health risks. The cities of Milwaukee and Vermont also used similar methods to inform their residents.
Is Fluoridated Water Safe for Babies and Young Children?
Despite the negative cases, the ADA (American Dental Association) has announced that fluoridated water should not necessarily be avoided when creating formulated milk for infants.
The association also encourages parents to consult dentists and pediatricians if they have questions about using fluoridated water.
While it is already known that using fluoridated water in formula milk increases the risk of developing dental fluorosis among children, almost every case and instance of dental fluorosis is only mild and is irrelevantly harmful to the children’s teeth.
It appears very faint, with white streaks on the child's teeth. It does not cause pain or discomfort or affect the function or health of the child’s teeth.
In 2010, a research study on the issue of mild fluorosis and infant formula milk showed that fluoridated water should not necessarily be avoided when mixing formula milk. The study also concluded that the effect of mild fluorosis on children was not considerable. Thus, the chemical could still be beneficial with only a limited amount of fluoride in the water.
"These recommendations are presented as a resource to be considered in the clinical decision-making process. As part of the evidence-based approach to care, these clinical recommendations should be integrated with the practitioner's professional judgment and the patient's needs and preferences." - A Report of the American Dental Association Council on Scientific Affairs.
*If you have concerns, talk with your pediatrician or dentist.
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