For many decades, the dental industry has hammered away at us, telling us that fluoride is excellent for building strong teeth! If you grew up using Crest toothpaste, you probably noticed that it was awarded the "approval of the American Dental Association." After Crest with Fluoristan was approved by the ADA in 1960, Crest's sales nearly tripled, making it the top selling toothpaste in the country.

So if fluoride exposure was actually harmful to your health, Proctor & Gamble would certainly go to any lengths to conceal this fact from the public so they could protect their cash cow. And certainly, other toothpaste manufacturers would follow with their own fluoride additives so they could compete with Crest. Gradually, what you have is a cluster of dental product manufacturers who would like nothing better than to keep all facts about fluoride dangers swept neatly under the rug.

And Now... What That About Lowered IQ?

Is fluoride really associated with lower IQ and reduced mental ability? Yes, as proven in 23 published studies. These studies, cited on the Fluoride Action Network website, include findings like these:

"Children living in high fluoride areas have lower IQs."

"Fluoride has a direct connection with intellectual development of children."

"High fluoride environment can adversely affect the development of intelligence in children." You can find these studies here.

The kinds of fluoride used in water supplies and products like toothpaste are toxic byproducts of aluminum, phosphate (part of fertilizer manufacturing), cement, steel and nuclear weapons manufacturing. Its toxicity has been known since the 1850s when iron and copper plants discharged fluoride into the air, poisoning plants, animals and people.

In an effort to prevent public action against the big aluminum manufacturing plants, a couple of scientists cooked up some tests that showed that fluoride would harden teeth and so prevent cavities. Almost overnight, a chemical that had only been used as rat and bug poison was being added to the toothpaste your mother was buying you. But in a 1955 court case against the broad use of fluoride, the scientist in charge of these initial pro-fluoride studies admitted under oath that his conclusions were wrong.

At one time, fluoride was even administered medically to lower thyroid activity. Therefore it is no wonder that one of the toxic effects of this chemical is hypothyroidism, characterized by obesity, lethargy, depression and heart disease.

Fluoride Also Comes to Your Home Courtesy of Your Local Utility Service

Fluoride is being administered to 184 million Americans in their home water supplies. Even more Americans are exposed to fluoride via commercially-prepared foods, drinks and other products that have been processed with fluoridated water on their way to the consumer.

Since you have selected natural dentistry for yourself and your family, you are probably quite aware of the dangers of this substance and are choosing to avoid it in your dental care products. Perhaps you have not yet eliminated fluoride from your home water supplies. Are you drinking the tap water at home? Bottled water is usually an improvement but even this is not always a reliable source of safe water.

The Environmental Working Group, an advocacy and educational group for consumers, tested ten brands of drinking water to determine purity. They said, "Two of 10 brands tested, Walmart's and Giant's store brands, bore the chemical signature of standard municipal water treatment - a cocktail of chlorine disinfection byproducts, and for Giant water, even fluoride. In other words, this bottled water was chemically indistinguishable from tap water."

One of the best solutions to avoiding fluoride at home is a whole house water filtration system, but they can be expensive. When it can be afforded, it is a great investment to protect the whole family and pets, too.

There are also portable water filtration devices that effectively filter out heavy metals, chlorine and bacteria from drinking water. Fluoride is extremely hard to remove from water, so may not be removed 100 percent. But removing most of it is a big improvement! One such product can be found on the Filter King website.

Recovering From Fluoride Exposure

When a person has been exposed to fluoride for a long time, the substance may damage the brain, kidneys, liver and other organs. Fluoride may lodge not only in the teeth but also the bones. But it can be detoxified with natural and healthy supplementation. The Natural News website has an excellent and thorough article on this subject.

This article also recommends adequate calcium and magnesium supplementation as this helps draw fluoride away from bones and teeth, enabling the body to eliminate them more easily. Just make sure it is in a form that your body can really assimilate.

When it comes to fluorides, one thing is certain: it is important to be well-educated! Take a look at the sidebar to the left for places you can learn more about the subject.