I wanted to believe in the incredibleness of fluoride.  I trusted the industry leaders when they said how awesome fluoride was for preventing tooth decay.  “They” never ever mentioned its very sinister and dark side effects.

From the beginning of dental hygiene school, I learned all about how “wonderful” fluoride was for dental health.  How it was the magic bullet to combat decay. That it was the be–all–end–all, and my best, most incredible tooth-saving tool.

For years and years, I relied on it exclusively. It was the only tool in my unfortunately very empty dental hygiene toolbox for addressing dental decay.  I never did my own research. I trusted when I should have verified.

Instead, I did lazy hygiene for years (and years). Trusting that fluoride was “going to save the day”.  See, I believed that what I learned in school was correct and that what I was reading in my hygiene journals was the complete story.  The fluoride articles all said the same thing over and over: fluoride was THE tool I needed to combat tooth decay. Fluoride toothpaste and water for everyone, but if there was new decay then prescription strength fluoride toothpaste, as well as fluoride varnish in the office, then sealants and fillings with fluoride within the restorative materials as well as fluoride trays to soak teeth in fluoride gel. The answer was always “more fluoride”.

So much fluoride. Problem was, there was so much fluoride out there, yet dental decay was and still is a major health problem. It is at epidemic levels. Everyone had new cavities, every visit. And shame on me, I even did “fluoride shaming” to my patients because I believed in fluoride’s magic.  I was the authority on fluoride (yet I had never even read the research).

I finally had to question my methods – What was I missing? What could I do better? Because what I was doing was not working. Decay was still occurring, and more fluoride was not the answer.  It was a short conversation with myself because fluoride was all I knew to use to address this problem.

I did know that the best predictor of future decay is current decay. So, I read more journal articles, scouring for new information and better answers. Thankfully and very luckily, I found my way to biological dental hygiene and my dental decay world turned upside down. Biological dental hygiene looks for the root causes of dental decay.  There are better tools and techniques. We can conquer cavities if we look for “why tooth decay is occurring”. We need to get to the real root causes of why the hardest substance in the body is literally melting away.

I now have better answers to fight cavities. We must dive deeper to defeat decay- it is a multifactorial disease.  It is not a lack of fluoride. Relying on fluoride as the only tool in the dental toolbox ignores the many other components of solving tooth decay problems. And, finally, I know so much more about fluoride and its actions.  Fluoride does not live up to all its promises.

It has many sinister side effects to which the dental industrial complex turns a blind eye. They still think fluoride is “good” and necessary. Fluoride is their monotherapy. In fairness to them, knowledge changes. We made our best decisions with the information we have at the time.  None of us knows everything. Today we are overturning these old truths. It is time to verify.

Come with me as I explore fluoride’s dark side. It really is the destroyer of the human body.

First, Do No Harm.

Fluoride is a Poison

Long ago, hatters used mercury to stiffen their felt hats, not knowing how poisonous mercury vapor was to their bodies. It took many years before they realized that mercury was a poison and should not be inhaled. When you know more you must take action and make changes.

So too is it with fluoride and especially systemic water fluoridation. Once you know better though, you must do better. The research shows that fluoride is an environmental toxin. Fluoride is not a nutrient. It is NOT a tooth vitamin. There is no such thing as a fluoride deficiency. It is a poison. It is suspected of affecting nearly every part of the human body. It impacts the health of bones, liver, pancreas, lungs, heart, skeletal muscles, and kidneys. It is impossible to avoid. It is in our water, our foods that are watered with fluoridated water, food packed in fluoridated water, medications, pesticides, cookware, and of course in almost all our dental products. It is a cumulative poison- small amounts ingested over a long time ultimately affect many body parts. It circulates in the blood and accumulates in calcifying tissues- bones, teeth, and the pineal gland. It inhibits the function of enzymes.

The dose makes the poison. With fluoridated water, there is no dose control. Someone who drinks a lot of water, has kidney disease, diabetes, or babies on infant formula all could retain higher levels of fluoride on a daily basis.

I often hear- “it is natural, and we are just adjusting it to safe levels”.  Just because it is natural does not make it safe. If we must have it in our water system then we should at least have adjusted the level of fluoride to the levels that protect the most vulnerable people- those that cannot excrete fluoride, that includes the preborn, the small, young, old, medically compromised or those sensitive to it.

Better yet, we should recognize it for the systemic poison it is and remove it from use.

*Original full-text article online at: http://queenofdentalhygiene.net/2023/02/fluoride-the-destroyer-see-the-dark-side/

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