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 Fluoride
Linked To Gum Disease
22 May
2007
Scientists
report a link between dental fluorosis and periodontal disease in the
June 2007 Indian
Journal of Dental Research.
Dental
fluorosis - white spotted, yellow, brown stained and/or pitted
teeth - is a visual manifestation of fluoride overdose during
childhood. Dental fluorosis afflicts from 1/3 to 1/2 of U.S.
schoolchildren, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Inhabitants
of the Davangere district of India were studied where
natural water fluoride levels ranged from 1.5 to 3.0 parts-per-million
(ppm) which is similar to fluoride levels allowed in U.S. water
supplies (up to 4 ppm). The sample consisted of 1,029 subjects between
15- and 74-years-old.
As the
degree of dental fluorosis increased, periodontitis (advanced
gum infection) increased. "The results suggest that there is a strong
association of occurrence of periodontal disease in high-fluoride
areas," write Vandana and Reddy.
 "Surprisingly,
studies have not paid attention to the periodontal
status in high-fluoride areas from a research perspective," the authors
write.
"In
addition to inflammatory process, which remains common to high- and
low-fluoride areas, the fluorosis induced changes in hard and soft
tissues of periodontium requires … attention to suspect fluoride as an
etiological (environmental) agent for periodontal disease," the authors
conclude.
Two thirds
of U.S. public water suppliers purposely add fluoride
chemicals (silicofluorides) in an attempt to reduce tooth decay in tap
water drinkers. Some U.S. communities have natural fluoride levels up
to 4 ppm..
"How much
longer do the American people have to be the guinea pigs in
the U.S.'s fluoridation experiment," asks lawyer Paul Beeber,
President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.
The
National Research Council advises more studies are required on
fluoride's effects on reasoning ability, endocrine functions, the
immune deficient, fertility, gastric response, bladder cancer, kidney
and liver enzyme functions and more.
Studies
already link fluoride to cancer, genetic defects, IQ deficits,
thyroid dysfunction, kidney, tooth and bone damage. But
government
officials want even more studies before they condemn fluoridation.
"Who will
decide when fluoride's mounting risks outweigh its
questionable benefits. The individual or the government?" asks Beeber.
"Fluoridation leaves it in the hands of the government."
"Fluoridation
chemicals are in short supply these days," says
Beeber, "This would be a good time to gracefully bow out of water
fluoridation."
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