Fluoride is conventionally accepted as healthy. Fluoride is healthy. However, many groups and studies are now pointing to health risks associated with fluoride. Fluoride is unhealthy. It’s like so many other things. Media is forever feeding us contradicting information about our health. One day something will extend our lives, and the next day it will kill us. It’s enough to make you keep your television turned off.

Still, being informed is important. People need to know if they are wrong about the perceived benefits of a product or chemical within a product. If the wrong information is adhered to for too long, it could have dire consequences. The best way to make a determination is to create a simple pros and cons list; be sure to get your information from many different sources when compiling the list. This way, you can be certain to get at least some of the important facts from each side. In this case, the work is done for you. You can judge for yourself the outcome of the comparison.

Fluoride: 3 Pros

• Cavity Prevention – According to the Journal of Dental Research and the Journal of the American Dental Association, fluoride has been proven to prevent cavities. The best effects are achieved when used in a combination of topical and systemic applications. Therefore, fluoride is in our toothpastes and in our drinking water. It treats your teeth from the outside as well as from the inside.
• Decay Reversal – Fluoride has also been proven to reverse tooth decay to a certain extent in children and adults. KidsHealth.org, a subsidiary of Nemours.org, cites the CDC in this, saying that while it cannot repair cavities, fluoride can and does reverse low-level tooth decay by counteracting the associated acid buildup.
• Social Justice for Underserved Communities – As a public service, municipalities almost universally enact Water Fluoridation;they add fluoride to city drinking water. While all people benefit from this, those that cannot afford regular dental care are offered a health benefit they would ordinarily not be able to obtain.

Fluoride: 3 Cons

• Dental Fluorosis – Fluorosis occurs when developing teeth are exposed to a high a level of fluoride on a regular basis. In a nutshell, fluorosis is a weakening of the enamel, indicated by discoloration. According to the CDC, dental fluorosis in children has risen by 9% over the past twenty years. Many communities in the United States have begun to work against water fluoridation for this reason.
• Skeletal Fluorosis – This is similar to Dental Fluorosis, but it affects the joints and bones. Skeletal Fluorosis can also affect the thyroid gland and disrupt calcium regulation in the body, leading to osteoporosis and an increased likelihood of fractures. Like Dental Fluorosis, Skeletal Fluorosis is caused by exposure to high levels of fluoride over an extended period of time.
• Interactivity with Allergic Hypersensitivity – According to the Physician’sDesk.com (through fluoridalert.org), systemic fluoride exposure can cause allergic symptoms. Though they are not directly allergic to fluoride, hypersensitivity patients find that their other allergies are aggravated by the presence of fluoride in high levels.