Fluoride in Your Water: Everything You Need to Know

You might be familiar with fluoride because it’s in your toothpaste, leading many people to believe that it’s essential to our oral health. So, fluoride in your water must be a good thing, right?

Not so fast!

In this blog, let’s explore what fluoride is, what it does, and why it might be added to your toothpaste and drinking water.

Furthermore, we’ll explore if it’s really in your best interest to consume fluoride in your tap water.

What is Fluoride?

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in private wells and groundwater. You can also find it in certain foods, including canned shellfish, oatmeal, raisins, potatoes, brewed black tea, and coffee.

Why is Fluoride Added to Toothpaste?

The US started adding fluoride to some public water supplies throughout the 1940s. Then, Crest changed oral care forever when they released the first fluoride toothpaste nationally in 1956, and from there, it spread around the world. But why?

Fluoride can strengthen tooth enamel, which protects you against tooth decay. It also cuts down on how much acid your teeth’s bacteria produce. Plus, children who brush with fluoridated toothpaste tend to have teeth with shallower grooves, making it easier to remove plaque — a layer of sticky film made of bacteria that forms on the surface of teeth.

 

 

The Addition of Fluoride to Our Drinking Water

With the benefits it seemingly produced, fluoride was eventually added to public water supplies — a decision made at the local or state level — and now, three out of four Americans have public drinking water that contains fluoride. You can also find fluoride in some brands of bottled water, although not all.

Various types of fluoride can be used, including sodium fluoride, sodium fluorosilicate, and fluorosilicic acid.

So, What’s the Problem? 

If fluoride has been added to both toothpaste and water because of its health benefits, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about, right?

Well, not necessarily. The answer is a little more complicated.

Yes, in small amounts, fluoride should be safe and possibly even beneficial. However, there could be risks. Fluorosis, which happens after prolonged exposure to too much fluoride, can hurt both the teeth (ironically) and the bones.

Dental fluorosis manifests as white spots on the teeth. In more severe cases, the teeth might become brown and weak. Dental fluorosis can only occur while the teeth are being formed during childhood. The first two years of life, in particular, are important. 

When fluoride accumulates in the bones, it’s called skeletal fluorosis. Symptoms include joint pain and stiffness, and in more extreme cases, the bone structure can be compromised, and there might be calcification of the ligaments. This could possibly increase the risk of bone fractures. 

Do the Pros Outweigh the Cons?

But wait, what about how good fluoride is for your teeth? Here’s something interesting: Harvard Public Health says that countries that do not fluoridate their water have also seen significant drops in the rate of cavities. So, fluoride might not even be necessary to protect our chompers.

Plus, Harvard also says that research on water fluoridation hasn’t been thorough enough. We still need to understand if it’s really needed in our water supply since, when we drink it, it gets into our bloodstream and possibly the brain. Second, we need to ensure we’re putting just enough fluoride in our water — and not a hair more — to enhance oral health. And third, we need to better confirm if there are certain groups of people who are more vulnerable to the potential downsides of fluoride and should thus only drink from non-fluoridated sources.

While there is indeed research demonstrating that small amounts of fluoride are good for you, there’s also research, for instance, that found that high fluoride exposure while pregnant might be connected to lower IQ scores in children, particularly boys and an array of other issues. 

 

 

Further research suggests that high fluoride intake could be connected to bone cancer and cognitive impairments.

Does this mean that fluoride is bad for you and you should avoid it at all costs? No. We know that it offers benefits to your oral health.

However, do you want to be drinking fluoride? That’s the real question. You’ll want to be in control of your tap water and how much fluoride you’re exposed to every day.

How can you do that?

Water Purification for Fluoride in Your Tap

If you’re using toothpaste with fluoride, then there’s a good chance you’re already getting what you need to support your oral health. Thus, how can you ensure that you’re not consuming more fluoride in your tap water?

If you’ve got a basic water filter or a refrigerator filter, you might think it’s removing the fluoride. However, these filters aren’t typically effective enough to remove many contaminants. The most powerful type of water purification is reverse osmosis (RO).

The holes in a reverse osmosis filter are so tiny that the only thing that can get through is water molecules. This means that contaminants in tap water like fluoride, microplastics, chlorine (something else added to water), lead, arsenic, and E. coli will be filtered out. If the filtration system also uses UV-C purification, all the better: This can handle pathogens like viruses and bacteria.

Water Filtration With Sans

The Sans water purifier will turn your contaminated tap water crystal clear, eliminating up to 99% of all contaminants and over 99.9% of fluoride. There’s no installation required, and the water quality is monitored in real time, giving you peace of mind. Learn more about our state-of-the-art reverse osmosis water purification technology, protect your health, and taste the difference.