Most of us have grown up drinking tap water that has added fluoride. What exactly is fluoride, and how does it help our teeth? Read on to learn more. Thanks for visiting Advanced Endodontics of Lakewood, serving the greater Cleveland, OH area.
Portland, Oregon made headlines last week it became America’s largest metropolis to not fluoridate its water supply. Why is a simple ion that’s been used for decades still causing such a hubbub? Because 70 years on, we’re still not entirely sure how it works.
What It Is
Fluoride is an ion, the reduced form of fluorine, the 13th most common element in the Earth’s crust. Fluoride itself is often found in minerals such as fluorite as well dissolved in food and water—1.3 ppm in seawater and 0.01 – 0.3 ppm in fresh (tap, not bottled). In excessive concentrations, fluoride can cause health problems—mild fluorosis causes disoloration of the enamel—but is filtered down to safe levels by water management in locations where the mineral is overabundant. Many home water filters also effectively remove fluoride from tap water.
“This is the only health condition we’re aware of,” Dr. Barbara Gooch, from the CDC’s oral health division, told FoxNews.com, speaking of flourosis. “It’s a cosmetic condition, and other than that, there are no other documented health conditions in relation to water fluoridation.”
The WHO recommends a concentration of 0.5 to 1.0 mg/L .
The practice of adding fluoride to American water supplies as a means of preventing tooth decay began in the 1940s and has grown to include two-thirds of US households. Per the EPA:
“In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act. This law requires EPA to determine the level of contaminants in drinking water at which no adverse health effects are likely to occur. These non-enforceable health goals, based solely on possible health risks and exposure over a lifetime with an adequate margin of safety, are called maximum contaminant level goals (MCLG). Contaminants are any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substances or matter in water.
The MCLG for fluoride is 4.0 mg/L or 4.0 ppm. EPA has set this level of protection based on the best available science to prevent potential health problems. EPA has set an enforceable regulation for fluoride, called a maximum contaminant level (MCL), at 4.0 mg/L or 4.0 ppm. MCLs are set as close to the health goals as possible, considering cost, benefits and the ability of public water systems to detect and remove contaminants using suitable treatment technologies. In this case, the MCL equals the MCLG, because analytical methods or treatment technology do not pose any limitation.”
How It Works
Fluoride’s best known as a defender of teeth, and for good reason. Tooth enamel is composed of hydroxyapatite, a strong mineral but one susceptible to acid erosion like that caused by sugar-eating bacterial colonies that live on the surface of the tooth. Normally, brushing will dislodge the bacteria while your saliva neutralizes the acid and allows for the tooth to remineralize. However, if more mineral is lost than rematerialized, cavities begin to form. Dental cavities are a major problem, especially in the industrialized nations, affecting up to 90 percent of school-age children and most adults.
Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay by bonding with tooth enamel and strengthening it against the acid, even helping reverse early-stage cavity damage.
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