(Wendy) wrote in message ...
I actually have no position pro or con about fluoride whatsoever. The
reason fluoridated water was recommended is we were using bottled
drinking water and she said water with fluoride would be better for his
teeth. I have noticed that Todd makes a lot of really inflammatory
statements regarding many issues, mainly so we will all read his posts,
I imagine. Not all are without value, by the way. I just find it hard to
believe that all OBs are evil psychos that are either forcing women's
birth canals shut or wrenching on their baby's spines.

Wendy

There is a lot of inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of this issue. I
will start by saying that I think the claims of the dental profession
are true and I support the topical application of fluoride treatments,
including toothpaste, to the teeth of children and adults.
From the perspective of being a chemical engineer and industrial
hygenist, however, I oppose any treatment which involves the bodily
ingestion of the fluoride ion. The same chemical mechanism that
increases the acid resistance of teeth,
namely the ion exchange wherein calcium carbonate becomes calcium
fluoride, can happen, and does happen in bones as well as teeth.
Particularly in children and fetuses, whose bones are undergoing rapid
calcification, this can lead to distortions in bone formation
chemistry. Many of the effects are unknown because they have not been
studied. It has not been studied because the disbursement process for
gov't research funds is heavily politicised, and no funds have been
forthcoming for this kind of research, largely because of the
opposition of the dental professionals in the National Institutes of
Health.
But there are distinct warning signs from credible sources. Why is
sodium fluoride listed with the EPA as a pesticide? Read the back of a
tube of Crest toothpaste, particularly what it says about keeping out
of the reach of children and contacting a poison control center if
more than is usually used for brushing is ingested. Are the scientists
at Proctor&Gamble a bunch of conspiracy wingnuts? Name calling from
both sides of the debate has prevented rational analysis of this issue
for several decades. Let us hope that someday a real scientific
approach to this issue will shed some light on it, from more than just
a dental perspective, one that considers fluoride's effect upon the
whole body, not just the teeth.-Jitney