I have lived my whole life in areas where the city water has flouride added to it. Until a few years ago when my husband and I built our house which has a well. I have two boys ages three and one. Since my oldest could chew he has been taking a flouride vitamin prescribed by my doctor since I told him we have well water. I haven't really thought much about it until several of my neighbors who also have wells and young children were discussing flouride and how it is really a poison. I have never heard this. I know little childrens toothpaste doesn't have flouride in it until they learn how to spit it out and not swallow the toothpaste. So if flouride shouldn't be swallowed why is it safe for my son to be taking the flouride pill? Anyone have any expertise or done any research on this?
Fluoride is poison and I avoid it for my daughter. It is everywhere around us in the environment and food, even in the air we breathe - I don't understand why doctors/dentists still insist on it when there is actually no proof that it prevents cavities, on the contrary there is proof it may promote them and cause fluorosis. http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluoridation.htm
Just like a lot of things, a little flouride is good, and a lot is bad. My best advice is to check with your doc to make sure they're getting the right amount in the prescribed vitamin, make sure they don't get any more than that, and go from there. But I wouldn't stress out about having been giving them the flouride pills - the doctor isn't going to prescribe anything poisonous, and hundreds of thousands of people drink flouridaded water every day with no ill effects.
As Jane M. said, a little is good but a lot is bad. People still have a strange idea that its a communist or some other type of conspiracy. The reason they don't use it in Europe and also some places here is because of consent laws. Also, since its in the toothpaste and in the water, its can't be monitored properly. They just did a study that found that tons of teenages actually have damage to their teeth from too much flouride. The reason your Dr. gave you the supplements is not to poison your children. My dr. gave me some too. It is added to the multivitamin. The reason is that topical flouride only works on the present teeth. The one you take internally strenghtens the the adult teeth that are hiding in your child's jaw and have not come out yet. I give my son the supplement maybe once a week since we have well water too. He had brown spots on his front teeth and I started using a children's toothpaste (Tom's of Maine) on him. We use the tiniest little amount and focus on the front. You can barely see even one anymore. You can do your own research...people seem to like to exaggerate.
Both my pediatrician and my pediatric dentist recommended flouride for my son. We are also on a well, but live in a city that does not add flouride to the water supply. We choose to use a flouride toothpaste for my son and skip the supplement, only because I could never remember to give him the flouride drops. He still swallows his toothpaste instead of spitting, but according to the dentist, is consuming a very safe amount of flouride this way and doesn't need the drops also.
Like any number of other things, a certain amount is helpful, too much can cause problems. I had mild dental flourosis (discoloration of the teeth) from too much flouride when I was much younger. My dentist treated it with a cosmetic whitening procedure, problem solved.
There are plenty of things in an average child's multivitamin which are beneficial in certain doses, but dangerous in larger quantities. Iron and magnesium are necessary, but can be dangerous if you consume too much. I wouldn't call either one a poison. Same with flouride.
I also have well water. I brush my childrens teeth twice a day & I floss their teeth. It wasn't until my son was 6 with 3 cavities that the subject of flouride came up. I had my well water tested first and we have no flouride in our water. So I started giving him supplements. I also started my younger daughter on the supplements. The flouride is for the baby teeth as well as the forming adult teeth. I will say that since we started witht he flouride, we haven't had any more cavities. I'm sure that too much is toxic, but that is true with almost all vitamins & supplements. Ultimately it's your decision, but I felt like giving my children a healthy start with their adult teeth outwayed any cons. Good luck with your decision.
A little is good, too much is bad. Too much causes flourosis which is staining of the teeth. It does not damage or weaken the teeth but it is a cosmetic issue. You can have your water tested to know how much is in it. This will help your ped. know if supplemental is recommended. Of course massive overdoses would be bad (and that's true for a lot of things).
Hi S., What a good question. We have well water so my son has never had treated water, He is 8 and yet to have a cavity. Since he has been able to spit out toothpaste he has used one with fluoride. He also receives a fluoride treatment twice a year at the dentist. I was raised on city water and have had more cavities then I can count. I think good oral hygiene and a well balanced diet are way more important then a supplement. I decided against giving him the fluoride tablet and am happy with my decision.
You should also have your well water tested to see how much flouride is in it. Flouride occurs naturally in soil and water and some parts of the US have high amounts of flouride in the ground water. Too much can cause major dental problems. My opinion is we put way too much flouride in our drinking water and too much emphasis on giving kids supplements. If young children shouldn't swallow toothpaste with flouride then why would we give them pills to swallow? Search for yourself but I would and do say no to flouride supplements. I currently live in a country where I know the flouride content is very low and my dental health has never been better.
Dr mercolas website says yes. Even if you dont believe him, reading the label on toothpaste says it is a poison in large amounts. I also saw an artcle on abc news website about 2 weeks ago that there is too much in the water and too much makes your teeth and bones brittle.
Well, the schools will no longer dispense the tablets to the children now like they did when I was growing up. The city water in our state is NOT treated with it. My dr. is even a little squeemish to prescribe it to me for my kids and told me it's already in the toothpaste and that I can buy fortified water if I wished instead.
I have never heard of such a thing. Flouride is a poison, I wouldn't give mine pills. Plus you dont' eat flouride, it's actuallly topical medication.
Take them to a dentist. Brush their teeth and when they get a little older, I started at 3, get the rinses with flouride that they spit out. ACT, Listerine (that's really strong), Scope.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_controversy
My husband is adamantly against fluoride, it has shown to be poison in high doses, although it's extremely unlikely - it does exist. They point to fluoride helping teeth, but it's such a small help. My husband and I were both raised in a city that adds it to the water, and both of us are scheduled to have dentures this year - he's 32, i'm 29. Genetics and cleanliness and dentist visits have WAYYY more to do with fluoride. While it's true about the controversy - see the website, google "fluoride in water" - the truth is, I'd spend the time worrying about my kids brushing right and flossing. MY son is going to have all his teeth in 30 years, and I don't honestly think fluoride makes a huge difference. Probably better to avoid it, it hasn't proven to help that much, but like someone said - a little hasn't been proven to hurt at all. It's just a question of do you want to put something more in your body that may NOT help enough to cancel the risks? It's up to you in the end...
