For as long as I’ve been alive (FWIW I can remember the 1960s) Halloween has been synonymous with costumes, trick-or-treating, and excess candy consumption. The deleterious (there’s a nice big word – eh?) effects of said consumption include, upset stomachs, massive fluctuations in blood sugar levels with the attendant behavioral changes, and of course tooth decay. The sugar in the candy provides an excellent food source for bacteria in the mouth. Increased bacterial activity creates acids that break down the hard structures of the teeth, e.g., their enamel. When the breakdown happens faster than the repair, you get tooth decay.
The Solution
Besides eating less candy, is to brush your teeth to clear away the sugars and bacteria and to replace the lost minerals. The primary method for remineralization is through the use of fluoride. Fluoride can be provided in many different ways. One of the most common is in toothpaste, which makes twice daily brushing even more effective. Fluoride is also available from our diet. Fruits, vegetables, chicken and many canned goods are good sources of fluoride. Dietary supplements can also be used to ensure adequate fluoride.
How it works
Ingested fluoride enters the bloodstream and gets deposited in teeth where it helps rebuild the damage. Salivary glands secrete it into the mouth where it inhibits the bacterial conversion of sugars into acids and slows the breakdown of the tooth surfaces. It also helps those surfaces retain the calcium and phosphate which give them their hardness. For a more detailed description, please visit this dentistry for kids site, which is my primary source for this information.
Given all of its benefits the US began widespread water fluoridation in the 50s and 60s. A few other countries followed suit, but water fluoridation wasn’t acceptable or practical in all of them. Countries as diverse as Jamaica and Germany chose to add fluoride to their salt. In the UK, Bulgaria, Chile, Russia, and a few others, fluoride was added to milk products, including liquid milk, powdered milk, and yogurt. This was done both for economic and practical reasons (Jamaica and Chile) and political reasons in Germany. There is a small but vocal anti-fluoridation segment that demands a way to opt out of receiving fluoride.
Today’s Map (courtesy of Wikipedia)
The only scientifically supported downside to fluoride that I could find was fluorosis. Caused by prolonged exposure to excess levels of fluoride, fluorosis consists of stains, streaks, or rough pitting on the enamel. That said, many conspiracy theories about the ill-effects of fluoride exist. In no particular order they include, alleged links to AIDS, allergies, Alzheimer’s, cancer, lower intelligence and numerous others. As early as the 1950s fluoridation was portrayed as part of a communist plot, a cover-up for nuclear fallout issues, a ploy by candy companies to make it easier to sell more product, and even a government strategy to avoid providing dental care. I suppose any or all of them are possible, but call me a skeptic.
As always thanks for reading.
Armen
PS What’s your favorite Halloween candy? I’ve always been partial to candy corn and three musketeers.
How come Gabon has such high levels? It’s also interesting that the Republic of Ireland has high levels of people getting fluoride, but the U.K. does not? The U.K. has the resources to provide fluoride, is there a reason why they choose not to? Oh, I see … It looks so low because they add it to the milk products and not the water. Very interesting!
I believe the water is naturally fluoridated in equatorial Africa. It would’ve been a better map if it included other sources of fluoride, too, but I couldn’t find one of those that I could use. As for the resources, if you’ve got a water delivery system, i.e., not individual or small group wells, it costs ~$1.02 per person per year to provide fluoridated water. It’s the infrastructure that’s the big hurdle – thus some countries choosing milk products.
Armen, what’s the title of this graph? I’m wondering tobwhat the percentages are referring? Thanks, Amy
Amy, that’s a good question. I thought it was labelled, but obviously I was wrong. In any event, it’s the percentage of the population that receives fluoridated water at the levels recommended to fight tooth decay. It includes both natural and artificial fluoridation. FWIW that’s somewhere between .5 and 1.0 mg/liter.