Something in the Water

Is Fluoride in Tap Water Beneficial to Dental Health?

OpinionsAndrew Hamilton — Published January 11, 2011

I was curious about the actual facts, and I simply wanted to know why fluoridated water spurred all of these conspiracy theories.

Many major communities in Canada fluoridate their public water supply—about 43 per cent of Canadians have fluoridated tap water, as stated by Health Canada in a 2009 water fluoridation study. Montreal remains one of the only major cities to steadily reject efforts to put fluoride in their water. The Center for Disease control justifies fluoridation by claiming that it has been one of the ten major health achievements, as evidenced by reduced cavity tooth decay rates.
According to the U.S. Public Health Services Oral Health Report, water fluoridation is directly correlated to the “remarkable improvements in oral health over the past half century,” and has spurred the creation of dental care products, such as mouthwash and toothpastes.

I love the fact that oral health has improved, but do these two have any correlation to each other or are they incidental? I’m certain that toothpaste, mouthwash, general hygiene practices and dentistry practices have also improved over the last 60 years since fluoride was originally introduced to public water supply.

The CDC says fluoridated water is safe—that’s cool. The latest, most in-depth study is available for purchase for only $60. What are the conspiracy theorist kooks going on about? Why does anyone think this is bad?

So far it has been proven that small doses of fluoride is safe to ingest, but at higher levels there can be weakening of the bones, blockage of the pituitary gland and discoloration of the teeth to name a few.

In most European countries—Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Holland are just a few examples—they don’t fluoridate and they have witnessed the same dental health improvement. So has fluoride-free Montreal.

Health Canada says that fluoride in drinking water occurs naturally and it’s acceptable to ingest a maximum amount of 1.5 milligrams of fluoride for every litre of water. But if we can’t say conclusively that fluoridated water is the cause of reduced cavities, why would I pay to have more of it put in my water?

Even Health Canada said that they couldn’t come to a full conclusion on the health benefits of pumping fluoride into our water.

Fluoridated water, properly measured with instructions for use just like toothpaste, would be a great addition to the Colgate product line. If there is any point in this that irks me, it is that I wasn’t told about it.

Inevitably someone will say that I’m out there about this, and to that I say lead paint was once thought of as safe.

This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 18, published January 11, 2011.