I know that it has been a while since my last post. I have started work on my masters degree in Health Science. My posts will likely be infrequent at best for the next year or two, but I will continue to post short articles and ideas that I find particularly important.
Today is my 3 year old's first dental exam. One of the questions on the information sheet was "Is your water fluoridated"? My first thought was, well I'm not sure because we have the Pur filter attached. I hope it is, because I am aware of the dental benefits (or so I thought) from fluoridated water. As I researched my water, I found that yes the Pur filter and brita filters do not filter out Fluoride molecules. What I found next was shocking! A fluoride controversy?! Wait, some people don't think that we need fluoride in our water? I have to read more. Here is the article that I found please take a moment to read it:
http://www.dentalwellness4u.com/layperson/fluoridefacts.html
In summary:
"The largest survey ever conducted in this country was commissioned by the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) in 1987. In this study, Brunelle and Carlos (3) looked at 39,000 children in 84 communities. The average difference in tooth decay in children aged 5-17 years who had lived all their lives in fluoridated vs. non-fluoridated communities was not statistically significant! Using an index called DMFS, which means counting decayed, missing, and filled surfaces of teeth, the actual difference was less than one half of one percent. Similarly, a study done in Washington State in 1996 (4) looked at caries prevalence in 3,000 third grade children in 39 counties throughout the state. Their statistics were almost identical to the Brunelle study, and the investigators reported, “This study did not find a statistically significant effect of water fluoridation.” They did find a significant correlation between decay and economic status, which is a finding that should be pursued."
So for all of these years we have been ingesting fluoride in our water supply with no additional health benefit, or dental benefit. With new studies and evidence, what are the authorities thinking?
Fluoride in drinking water: What are we thinking?!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Posted by Meg at 8:31 AM 1 comments
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