Stop Fluoridation: It's Ineffective & Harmful, Say Chilean Researchers

Water and milk fluoridation haven't reduced tooth decay but is potentially harmful, report researchers from Chile (Medical Journal of Chile, February 2017,Translated with Google Translate). They recommend the government of Chile change its laws to stop adding fluoride chemicals into drinking water and milk in all regions of the country.

They show how fluoride intake can cause bone, thyroid, neurological and skin damage without reducing tooth decay. For example, they explain that, in the 1950s, fluoride was used to depress or reduce overactive thyroid glands (hyperthyroid) at doses which corresponds to the doses in drinking water of some fluoridated areas.(between 2 and 5 mg per Liter per day)

So it's not surprising that a recent study found a link between fluoridation and hypothyroidism (under-active thyroid)

Unnecessary fluoride chemicals are added to public water supplies, in a failed effort to reduce tooth decay in tap water drinkers. Many theories which gave birth to fluoridation in the early 1900's have been scientifically disproved making fluoridation a waste of money and a detriment to health.

The Chilean researchers report, “The fluoridation of drinking water does not significantly impact on caries prevention... effectiveness is rather a topical and non-systemic effect, as demonstrated by countries that do not fluoridate drinking water, and do not use milk or fluoride salts," yet have similar decay rates.

The research team based their analysis on a review of irrefutable scientific studies which included control of confounding variables.

They report that, according to WHO data, between 1970 and 2013, a decrease in 12-year-old's tooth decay occurred and at the same rate whether a country fluoridated its water or not. The same holds true for countries that fluoridate drinking water vs countries that do not fluoridate drinking water or salt.

Many European countries that have substantially decreased dental decay have never had massive fluoridation programs for milk and milk products (and/or drinking water).

"Therefore, fluoridation of drinking water and salts have no incidence at all in reducing dental [decay]," they conclude. 

About 3 million Chilean children consume fluoridated milk, diluted with water that naturally has at least 0.3 mg/L of fluoride. Considering consumption of at least  3 glasses of milk a day (200 ml), the intake of fluoride would be 2.59-3.6 mg/day which is above any international recommendation, they report.

"...the fluoridation of milk has no relevance in reducing dental decay. In addition children who have received fluoride salts are at increase risk of developing not only dental fluorosis [discolored teeth], but diseases such as those described in this review," they write.

This isn't the first review to expose the fluoridation boondoggle.

The respected UK-based Cochrane group of researchers could not find any quality evidence to prove fluoridation changes the “existing differences in tooth decay across socioeconomic groups.” Neither could they find valid evidence that fluoride reduces adults’ cavity rates nor that fluoridation cessation increases tooth decay.

"Peckham and Awofeso concluded that the evidence suggests that fluoride has the potential to generate health problems, while it only has a discrete effect on the prevention of dental caries," the Chilean research team reports.

Three expert committees (NRC, SCHER, YORK) revealed “that there is uncertainty surrounding both the safety and the efficacy of fluoridation, report Israeli  researchers,  Anat Gesser-Edelsburg, PhD, Head of Health Promotion Department, School of Public Health, University of Haifa, and Dr. Yaffa Shir-Raz  ( Journal of Risk Research, August 2016) 

“Fluoridated water [does] not seem, based on the existing literature, to hold sufficient evidence for the reduction of dental caries,” report Italian researchers in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry (December 2016).

In July 2012, Cagetti, et al, reported "Studies of the effectiveness of water fluoridation have been based on observational study designs...these studies are regarded as low in quality and the weight of the evidence derived from cross-sectional and observational studies can be questionable."

Even respected dental researchers have reported in dental textbooks that fluoridation is based more on unproven theories than scientific evidence.

                                    END FLUORIDATION