Why do they put fluoride in water? Not a lot of countries puts fluoride in their water supply, but those that do use fluoride, do it to strengthen people’s teeth and make them more resistant to tooth decay and cavities.
There are two types of fluoridated water: artificial and natural. 5 countries in the world fluoridate the majority of their water. Those are the United States, Canada, Ireland, Chile, and Australia. Another ten or so countries fluoridate the water supply to some areas and not others. Another ten or so countries use groundwater that is naturally fluoridated by volcanoes and hydrothermal vents. All in all, that means only about 30% of the world’s population drinks water with fluoride in it. So, what is fluoride?
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral. It is colorless, odorless, but it can have a bitter taste. It is the 13th most common element on Earth and is found in soil, water, and the food we eat. All plants and fruits have fluoride in them because they pick it up from the soil and water. Some plants can concentrate the fluoride and contain more than others. If you are looking to get more fluoride, tea leaves are an excellent source. We need a certain amount of fluoride in our diet, and the fact that some people don’t eat a diet that will not contain fluoride the reason why some countries add more fluoride to the water. Why do we need fluoride?
Drinking water with fluoride in it will bring down the number of cavities in a population by about 25%. Tooth decay is caused by bacteria that live in our mouths. The bacteria that live in our mouths live off the sugar and the starch that we eat. Generally, if we brush our teeth well, the bacteria are constantly flushed away and don’t build up. However, if we don’t brush our teeth well enough, or if we eat a lot of sugar and starch (which our modern ultra-processed food diet is doing) then the bacteria thrive. They form a layer over the teeth called plaque. When the bacteria feed off the sugar and starch they produce acid as a byproduct. This acid slowly dissolves the enamel of our teeth and opens up holes into the soft inner part of our teeth. The enamel is the protective layer of the teeth and when there is a hole, the bacteria can get inside the tooth and cause even more damage and pain. This is a cavity. Fluoride can halt or fix this in three ways.
Firstly, fluoride is a mineral and the enamel in our teeth is made up of minerals. When we have fluoride in our diet, it sticks to the enamel on the teeth and forms fluorapatite crystals. These crystals are very similar in structure to natural enamel, but they are more resistant to the acid that the bacteria produce. Secondly, they put minerals back into the teeth if a cavity has started. If the acid from the bacteria has worn a hole into the teeth, fluoride will enter this hole and start to remineralize it, slowly filling the hole back in. And, thirdly, the bacteria don’t like fluoride. It interferes with the bacteria and hampers them from using the sugar and starch, reducing the amount of acid they produce. The benefits are far greater in children and young people, but even adults have benefits.
These benefits were first noticed in the early 1900s. The number of cavities was skyrocketing. This was probably due to the dropping price of sugar and the changing diets of people as the country slowly industrialized. Government officials looked at incidences of cavities across the country and they noticed that in some areas the numbers were much lower than others. Colorado was one such place. When they looked into it, they discovered that the only difference between the states was the amount of natural fluoride in the water. This convinced the government and water fluoridation began soon after.
Fluoride is good for your teeth, but, like anything, too much of it is not a good thing. This is true of any mineral, not just fluoride. If you drink too much fluoride, it can cause fluorosis, which is where the enamel is changed a little and it absorbs color pigments from some of your food and drink, such as coffee. A lot of people have tried to show that fluoride in water is dangerous and another government conspiracy to kill us, although why they would want to no one seems to know. Fluoride at the levels in our water is not harmful. If they put in five or six times more fluoride in the water and we drank it for a long time, it could be toxic. But they don’t, for obvious reasons. And this is what I learned today.
Sources
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/why-is-fluoride-in-our-water
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation
https://www.history.com/articles/fluoride-water-teeth-health
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoride
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/11195-fluoride
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_by_country
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cavities/symptoms-causes/syc-20352892
Photo by Karolina Grabowska: https://www.pexels.com/photo/water-flows-from-the-tap-to-sink-6256/