Eco-Friendly Dentistry: Part Two (Is fluoride safe in toothpastes and supplementation?)

Continued here is my interview with Dr. Koos, one of the founders of ORA, the nation's first Eco-Friendly Dentistry practice. I sent him a late addition question, and received this extremely informative, thorough, and somewhat shocking response. Read the whole thing, and be ready to have your (tooth care) world rocked.


I am wondering Dr. Koos, what do you think of fluoride supplementation of well water and high fluoride prescription toothpaste for children?

Volumes have been written regarding the use of fluoride and the fluoridation of water, both speaking for and against its use. The ADA has had a strong position, and they have staunchly stood by it, but I respectfully disagree on many levels. Tooth decay is actually the #1 disease in the world, but the fluoridation of municipal water, with its potential systemic health risks, is not the cure, nor should it be. The controlled application of fluoride professionally, periodically, can be safely carried out in the office, and has proven benefits to decreasing the incidence of caries and desensitizing teeth that have become hypersensitive secondary to bone recession and root exposure. Once again, with this topic, the Precautionary Principle should be upheld.



I would like to highlight the mounting fluoridation opposition - scientific, respectable & finally growing politically popular:



New York -- June 2009 -- Over 2,500 professionals urge the US Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted, citing scientific evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. See statement: http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html.



Also, eleven Environmental Protection Agency employee unions representing over 7000 environmental and public health professionals called for a moratorium on drinking water fluoridation programs across the country, and have asked EPA management to recognize fluoride as posing a serious risk of causing cancer in people. (1a) Last election day, 53 US cities rejected fluoridation joining a growing list of communities saying "No," to fluoridation. (1)

Since the professionals' statement was first issued (Aug 2007), the following occurred:

· The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Canada’s leading voice on environmental health issues, released a statement opposing fluoridation. (2)

· The National Kidney Foundation dropped its fluoridation support replacing it with this caution: “Individuals with CKD [Chronic Kidney Disease] should be notified of the potential risk of fluoride exposure.” (3)

· Researchers reporting in the Oct 6 2007 British Medical Journal indicate that fluoridation never was proven safe or effective and may be unethical. (4)

· “A qualitative review of ...studies found a consistent and strong association between the exposure to fluoride and low IQ,” concluded Tang el al., in "Fluoride and Children’s Intelligence: A Meta-analysis” in Biological Trace Element Research (5)

· Scientific American editors wrote in January 2008, "Some recent studies suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland"

· Dr. A. K. Susheela, a leading fluoride expert, explains in a video why US physicians overlook fluoride as a possible cause of diseases commonly caused by fluoride. http://tinyurl.com/Susheela

· A study in the Fall 2008 Journal of Public Health Dentistry reveals that cavity-free teeth have little to do with fluoride intake. Researchers report, "The benefits of fluoride are mostly topical…while fluorosis is clearly more dependent on fluoride intake."

· Research published in Biological Trace Element Research (April 2009). indicates that blood fluoride levels were significantly higher in patients with osteosarcoma than in control groups. (13) (Osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, occurs mostly in children and young adults)

A Tennessee State legislator who is also an MD is urging all Tennessee Water Districts to stop fluoridation, reported a Tennessee newspaper on 11/29/08. At least 30 Tennessee water districts have already complied with his request.(6)

· On 1/5/09, the Burlington Board of Health recommended that Burlington cease fluoridation because fluoridation can harm some people. (7)

· On 1/6/09, a Canadian town, Drayton, stopped fluoridation, not to save money, but because it was in the best interests of residents, said the Mayor. (8)

· On 2/10/2009 Skagit County, WA officials reversed their 2007 fluoridation decision. (9)

· On 3/3/2009, Plainfield, Vermont bans fluoridation. (10)



· The Arkansas Oral Health Director is accused of giving eight "false or misleading statements" on fluoridation to an Arkansas legislative Committee. (12)



Signers to the FAN statement include:

· Dr. Arvid Carlsson,winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Medicine

· Vyvyan Howard, MD, PhD, President, International Society of Doctors for the Environment

· Ken Cook and Richard Wiles, Environmental Working Group

Lois Gibbs, Center for Health, Environment, and Justice

· Steven Koos D.D.S., M.D., Leader in the Eco-Friendly Dentistry™ and the Green Healthcare movement

· Joseph Mercola, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, who runs the #1 most visited natural

health website

· Theo Colborn, PhD, co-author, “Our Stolen Future”

· Sam Epstein, MD, Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition

· The current and six past Presidents of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and

Toxicology

· Board of Directors (2007), American Academy of Environmental Medicine

· Five Goldman Prize winners - given for excellence in protecting the environment

· Three members of the prestigious 2006 National Research Council (NRC) panel that reported on fluoride’s toxicology

Three officers in the Union representing professionals at EPA headquarters

· Hundreds of medical, dental, academic, scientific and environmental professionals, worldwide.

· Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Arvid Carlsson, says, “Fluoridation is against all principles of modern pharmacology. It's really obsolete.”


Fluoride jeopardizes health - even at low levels deliberately added to public water supplies, according to data presented in a 2006 National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) National Research Council (NRC) report. Fluoride poses risks to the thyroid gland, diabetics, kidney patients, high water drinkers and others and can severely damage children's teeth. (11) At least three panel members advise avoiding fluoridated water.



“The NRC fluoride report dramatically changed scientific understanding of fluoride's health risks," says Paul Connett, PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network. "Government officials who continue to promote fluoridation must testify under oath as to why they are ignoring the powerful evidence of harm in the NRC report,” he added.



The Professionals’ Statement also references:

· The new American Dental Association policy recommending infant formula NOT be prepared with fluoridated water.

· The CDC’s concession that the predominant benefit of fluoride is topical not systemic.

· CDC data showing that dental fluorosis, caused by fluoride over-exposure, now impacts one third of American children.

· Major research indicating little difference in decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.

· A Harvard study indicating a possible link between fluoridation and bone cancer.





The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a DC watchdog, revealed that a Harvard professor concealed the fluoridation/bone cancer connection for three years. EWG President Ken Cook states, “It is time for the US to recognize that fluoridation has serious risks that far outweigh any minor benefits, and unlike many other environmental issues, it's as easy to end as turning off a valve at the water plant.”


References:



(1a) http://www.nteu280.org/Issues/Fluoride/Press%20Release.%20Fluoride.htm

(1) http://www.fluoridealert.org/communities.htm

(2) http://www.fluoridealert.org/cape.html

(3) National Kidney Foundation, “Fluoride Intake in Chronic Kidney Disease,” April 15, 2008

http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/Fluoride_Intake_in_CKD.pdf

(4) "Adding fluoride to water supplies," British Medical Journal, KK Cheng, Iain Chalmers, Trevor A. Sheldon, October 6, 2007

(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18695947?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

(6) http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/2840202

(7) http://www.swabvt.org/node/300

(8) http://www.draytonvalleywesternreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1373584

(9) http://www.goskagit.com/home/article/commissioners_vote_to_halt_fluoride_program/

(10) http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090303/NEWS0301/90303100/1009/NEWS01

(11) National Research Council (2003-2006): Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA's Standards http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/epa/nrc/

(12) "State oral health director challenged over comments about fluoridation,"

March 10, 2009,by Kathryn Lucariello, Carroll County News

http://www.carrollconews.com/story/1509198.html

(13) Biological Trace Element Research, “Serum Fluoride and Sialic Acid Levels in Osteosarcoma,” by Sandhu R, Lal H, Kundu ZS, Kharb S, Apr 24, 2009 [Epub ahead of print]



Thank you, Dr. Koos for the depth of this information. It has certainly informed me and I hope it is helpful to you, readers. It has certainly caused me to rethink some of our practices. What about you?