Talk:Fluoride

Removed paragraph:

For this reason, fluorides are often added to toothpaste. To retain their right to practice, various dental associations require dentists to tell clients that fluorides are harmless and beneficial to the teeth. Dentists who say otherwise have their licenses revoked.

"To retain their right to practice" This smells like a POV statement. Credible evidence is needed. "various dental associations require dentists to tell clients that fluorides are harmless and beneficial to the teeth." What? This is a serious allegation that dental associations are forcing dentists to poison their patients. This requires serious proof. Associations don't have such power anyway. "Dentists who say otherwise have their licenses revoked." Again credible evidence is needed for this statement of fact. I suggest that the author of this passage actually read our NPOV policy. -- mav

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From the article: Other studies also suggest that even lower fluoride levels may be causing an increased incidence in elevated lead levels seen in the blood of children, and higher violent crime rates associated with lead neurotoxicity.

Can someone explain the supposed mechanism for this? Fluoride and lead are different elements, and unless the fluoride supply (or a naturally fluoride-rich water supply) were contaminated with lead, there is no way I can see that adding fluoride to something, such as water (or children), would add lead to it. --FOo

I don't buy it but "Acidic water resulting from silicofluoride treatment could extract lead from pipes, solder and fixtures, increasing the bioavailability of lead at the tap (Consumer Reports 1993)." [1] (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rmasters/AHABS/bp.htm#Water) --mav

Sure, only if there was already lead in the pipes (i.e. old pipes, already a risk); also, if the water is too acidic, public water utilities usually neutralize it, don't they? --FOo

You are probably right. --mav

I can find only one study indexed in MEDLINE that shows a correlation between the use of silicofluorides in a community's water, and blood lead levels. Consumer Reports is just speculating about one possible mechanism, and not very convincingly. The mechanism for the correlation, if it is replicable and causal, might also be biological rather than chemical. As an example, Vitamin D increases intestinal absorption of lead through its interaction with receptors in the gut (but we still put it in milk) <G>. -- Someone else 04:53 Dec 9, 2002 (UTC)

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Supplemented the summary of the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination [2] (http://www2.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/report18.htm), which was misleadingly summarized. -- Someone else 06:27 Dec 9, 2002 (UTC)

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From fluorine:

• Sodium fluoride[?] has been used as an insecticide, especially against cockroaches.
• Some other fluorides are often added to toothpaste and municipal water supplies.

I moved the above, in the hopes that the poor innocent element fluorine can repose in peaceful slumber while we discuss the application of one of its ions here. --Uncle Ed

Other than stopping Clutch from starting another edit war there is no good reason at all to do this Ed. The best thing for the fluorine article is to have this introductory material in it and have a detailed run-down of the facts and controversy here. All that is needed in the fluorine article is for us to mention that there is a controversy and provide a link here. --mav

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If it is sodium fluoride, sodium monofluorophosphate, and stannous fluoride which are used for dental purposes including water fluoridation, then how, pray tell, are silicofluorides (an entirely separate class of compounds) relevant to the debate? Is the claim that sodium fluorides are contaminated with silicofluorides? That they produce silicofluorides in the water? (By reaction with what?) --FOo

Silicofluorides are also used for fluoridation by some communities. They're an actual additive, not something inadvertently produced. -- Someone else 19:42 Dec 10, 2002 (UTC)

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Does " NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination" require a link, external link or additional notation? What country is this? (I assume Britain when I see NHS) Dramatic 05:10 Dec 30, 2002 (UTC)

Yes, it's the UK's NHS. By all means, let's make an article about it. -- Tarquin 12:47 Dec 30, 2002 (UTC)