Healthy Bytes

Fluoride - the FDA hands bottle water manufacturers a prize

read time: 293 words, about 2 minutes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the ok to bottled water manufacturers to decorate their labels with the claim that ‘fluoridated water may reduce the risk of tooth decay‘. (Watch how quickly the ad claims come).

The American Dental Association (ADA) let out a hip hip hooray…
ADA executive director James B. Bramson, D.D.S.:

“Thanks to the FDA’s decision, bottlers can now claim what dentists have long known—that optimally fluoridated water helps prevent tooth decay.”

But wait, there’s more…
The FDA says - and the ADA agrees - this ‘health claim‘ is not for infants (or bottled water marketed to infants). Why? Because lesser amounts of fluoride are ‘appropriate’.

Fluoride beyond the optimal amount creates a risk for “fluorosis” in teeth while they’re developing, before popping through the gums. Fluorosis damages tooth enamel. The results are a white spotting or streaking, and in the extreme - brown spotting on the teeth. There’s some nice pictures here.

Interesting. Teeth don’t only ‘develop’ in infants.

The ADA guidelines for fluoride and kids up to age 6 (which you can get here) advise:
- infant milk/formula - no fluoride. So if your using dry or concentrated formula, use fluoride free water (purified, distilled, deionized, reverse osmosis filtered).
- fluoride toothpaste - not under the age of 2 and no swallowing under the age of 6.
- fluoride mouthwash/mouthrinse - not under the age of 6.

In the next post we’ll take a look at how it came to be that fluoride was added to our tap water. Another tale of corporate and government intrigue. As they say, one person’s trash is another person treasure… or not.
Plus, how to make your own toothpaste… it’s rather simple. I’ve been doing it for sometime.

This entry was posted on Wed, 29.Nov.2006 at 6:57 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.