Fluoride Toothpaste

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nadohs
nadohs Posts: 7
in Chit-Chat
I have read so many conflicting articles on whether or not to have fluoride in your toothpaste.

Fluoride is a poison but it keeps your tooth enamel strong.

It seems like all the natural toothpaste products do not have fluoride (Tom's, Jason, etc.) but I don't want my teeth to wear away and start getting cavities.

Any thoughts on this?

Replies

  • GettingFitterVicki
    GettingFitterVicki Posts: 82 Member
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    I try to buy without fluoride, but that's mainly because the other chemicals (SLS etc) make the area around my mouth and chin very sore with eczema. I tend to lean towards natural products where I can anyway but there's a real reason for that one!

    Sometimes when I need to get toothpaste and only have a small shop without choices I end up with colgate or something which I'll use now and again. So I suppose I get a mix of both.
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    Just make sure to log it, no matter what you do.

    fluoride is put in drinking water to make the population more docile.
    Every wonder why everyone says drink so much water? They really want you to get more fluoride. Don't be a sucker.
  • CarolynB38
    CarolynB38 Posts: 553 Member
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    Apparently there's loads of fluoride in tea, so that's me done for, lol! I'm not worrying about toothpaste. I don't swallow it so it should be ok. Water isn't fluoridated any more so you shouldn't be getting any there (well not in the UK anyway). You could try upping your iodine intake to compensate if you're really worried. Fluoride binds with iodine but iodine is essential for thyroid function. If you have too much fluoride it depletes your iodine, but I shouldn't think you'd get too much from toothpaste unless you swallow it.
  • RissaDean
    RissaDean Posts: 189 Member
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    I've used crest or colgate my entire life, and I've never had a cavity *knock on wood!!*

    My sister has used the same toothpaste, and has had cavities.

    I really think it's a matter of genetics. Also, maybe you should ask your dentist what he recommends?
  • bmmiller4
    bmmiller4 Posts: 39
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    I am by no means an expert on this but will pass along what my pediatrician (and dentist later confirmed) told me. If we lived in town where water is "provided" (not coming from your own well) then fluoride would probably be added to the water and their teeth would be fine. Since we live in the country and have a well and also have an RO system for our drinking water so any trace amounts that might be in our water is removed they are on Rx fluoride tablets. I realize that this is regarding children and their permanent teeth are still developing so things may be different for an adult. But as long as you are not swallowing the toothpaste (something you should make sure your children do not do either) I don't think a toothpaste with fluoride in it is going to harm you at all.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    ROFL!
  • TropicalKitty
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
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    Preface, I'm a scientist/biologist, not a dentist. So with what I say, YMMV.

    Anyway, what I thought the point of the fluoride is to prevent cavities, not to make your teeth not get rubbed away (which the whitening tooth pastes can do depending on what the whitening agent is). Most cities/states add fluoride to the water anyway, so it may not be necessary for your tooth paste to contain it, other than for an extra boost. As far as I've thought, tooth paste is really just soap for your teeth. Just like handsoap, you don't need antibacterial (read: soap with triclosan) to have clean hands. Same with fluoride in tooth soap.

    Of course, a dental hygenist or dentist can totally correct what I said. :)
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    Fluoride can strengthen tooth enamel when applied directly to the teeth. It can weaken teeth and bones when ingested over a prolonged period of time.

    Moral of the story: don't eat your toothpaste. And if your community has fluoridated water, try buying bottled.
  • TropicalKitty
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
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    Just make sure to log it, no matter what you do.

    Yes! hehe
  • Heatherbelle_87
    Heatherbelle_87 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    :) Dental assistant NOT a Hygenist or Dentist but in most states we go through schooling as well, especially on oral hygiene.

    Here's the scoop on fluoride levels. There is not enough added fluoride in municipal water or toothpaste to harm you. You would have to eat 6-10 tubes of toothpaste whithin an hour (real tubes not travel size) to poison yourself and even then its not enough to kill you, just enough to harm your internal organs and possibly do some decent damage to your digestive system.

    Fluoride is the best thing out there for strengthening tooth enamel. The reason its not in baby tooth paste is A)it takes less of it to poison a baby and B) too much fluoride during tooth development can cause your teeth to have a white chalky appearance known as mineralization. Where as those teeth are typically stronger, the appearance is not "pretty" sometimes the teeth become mottled or pitted and that can lead to cavities. Once you lose tooth enamel it is gone forever, it can not be regenerated by your body.

    Natural toothpastes do not contain fluoride because it is an added chemical technically, hence why they could not label themselves as "organic" or "natural" if they had it. Do note that organic toothpastes typically use larger abrasive particles to clean your teeth then standard toothpaste and this is Not always a good thing. The larger and stronger the abrasive the bigger the micro scratches it puts in your enamel. Yes abrasives take of staining but too much too often Does harm the enamel. Tooth pastes for sensitive teeth have the smallest abrasive particles because the enamel is already thinner and we dont want to weaken it unnecessarily.

    There are people who need extra fluoride, there are people who dont need fluoride at all. It truly comes down to personal preference
  • mandahq
    mandahq Posts: 88 Member
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    I buy sensedine toothpaste im not sure if thats in there. But my dentist tells me to buy mouth wash with fluoride because the medicine Im on can cause dry mouth and that helps dry mouth or something like that. I also breath threw my mouth 90% of the time. so thats another reason why he wants me to use it. if you dont have dry mouth or breath threw your mouth more then 75% of the time. I dont think it would hurt to not have the fluoride in your toothpaste
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
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    Are you all dentists? put up the proof. Am I a conspiracy theorist, yes.

    Listen, if they don't put it in the water in the UK, but they do in the US, what does that tell you?
    The tooth thing is a myth. its not true at all. its really for making a population docile, they also use in in abu dabi!

    "Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century."
    - Robert Carlton, Ph.D, former EPA scientist, 1992


    Facts people.
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    Flouride is a communist plot to undermine public health. :smokin:

    Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?
  • Heatherbelle_87
    Heatherbelle_87 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Are you all dentists? put up the proof. Am I a conspiracy theorist, yes.

    Listen, if they don't put it in the water in the UK, but they do in the US, what does that tell you?
    The tooth thing is a myth. its not true at all. its really for making a population docile, they also use in in abu dabi!

    "Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century."
    - Robert Carlton, Ph.D, former EPA scientist, 1992


    Facts people.

    Give me your email address and when I have a few spare hours Ill scan my school books, including cite pages and research studies for you :)

    P.S. on my post I did note what my job is :)
  • Heatherbelle_87
    Heatherbelle_87 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Are you all dentists? put up the proof. Am I a conspiracy theorist, yes.

    Listen, if they don't put it in the water in the UK, but they do in the US, what does that tell you?
    The tooth thing is a myth. its not true at all. its really for making a population docile, they also use in in abu dabi!

    "Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century."
    - Robert Carlton, Ph.D, former EPA scientist, 1992


    Facts people.

    Give me your email address and when I have a few spare hours Ill scan my school books, including cite pages and research studies for you :)

    P.S. on my post I did note what my job is :)

    One more thing, not all Dentists or Doctors know everything either. There are some pretty crappy providers out there! I should know one ruined 3 of my teeth when I was 17. Hence why I went in to, and do my own research on, all aspects of dentistry. And there are alot of countries in europe (germany being the major one) that dont add fluoride to the water but most of their population use fluoride gels once a week that are 10x stronger then any toothpaste. There is a major difference in enamel strength with topical vs ingested fluoride during tooth development
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    Some of you need to see Dr. Strangelove :)

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