The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is finally fluoridating the drinking water of much of Orange County, reports the Orange County Register.  Fluoride, in small amounts, strengthens enamel and prevents cavities.

All customers of the following water districts will be getting fluoridated water:

• El Toro Water District
• Emerald Bay Service District
• Laguna Beach CWE
• Moulton Niguel Water District
• South Coast Water District
• Santa Margarita Water District

This covers the Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, and Santa Margarita communities which are served by our dental office.  A more complete list of affected communities is available here .  We realize that although not everyone goes to the dentist regularly, adding small amounts of fluoride will make a difference in the oral health of our children.  This is a big victory for organized dentistry, which continues to press for simple, effective public health measures like water fluoridation.  

Bacteria in your mouth metabolize carbohydrates you eat and excrete acid waste products.  Fluoride combines with enamel to create a stronger crystalline structure which is more resistant to the acid attacks.  Fluoride also inhibits bacterial metabolism by blocking key parts of glycolysis.  

There are those who argue that fluoride is a poison and should not be added to drinking water.   We take objection to their primary argument:  Too much fluoride is harmful, therefore, even the smallest amounts should be avoided.  Fluoride has been blamed for nerve damage, retardation, cancer, and all sorts of other unsubstantiated claims based on amounts of fluoride exposure far, far higher than those found in municipally fluoridated water.  Water and sunlight can both cause tremendous amounts of damage if you are overexposed to them, yet we have no anti-water or anti-sunlight activists.  Even acetominophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil) can cause severe liver and kidney problems if taken in too great of an amount, yet these same people are not protesting these drugs.  Most of the drugs and products that we use safely everyday are poisonous in excess.  It only takes a very small amount of fluoride to make a big difference.  The optimum concentration of fluoride is 0.7 to 1.2 parts per million, several times less than what it takes to cause the many problems attributed to fluoride.

Another argument is that the ADA doesn't recommend fluoride for children under 6, which to anti-fluoride activists is an admission that fluoride is bad.  We avoid giving peanut butter to infants, due to the risk of allergies.  Should we ban peanut butter, too?  The reason for restricting fluoride in small children is the same reason we keep them out of the medicine cabinet: it's to avoid the risk of them getting an unsafe amount of an ordinarily safe medicine.  Nyquil is very good for children in the right amounts under the right circumstances, it's just you don't want them to have too much.  In the case of fluoride, too much can lead to fluorosis: yellow, mottled teeth.  So we manage fluoride intake for little ones with some very simple precautions.  There a few simple guidelines from the ADA to provide a safe level of fluoride for your babies, infants and children.

Why does dentistry fight so hard to fluoridate, when it reduces our cavity-filling business?  Because we care.  We applaud the Municipal Water Districts decision, and we look forward to healthier, happier children.  For more on community fluoridation, visit the ADA website.

Bottom Line: Fluoride is beneficial in very small amounts, harmful to the body in large amounts.  Municipal water fluoridation is within a safe and optimum range (0.7-1.2 parts per million).