Water fluoridation
From Free net encyclopedia
Water fluoridation is the act of adding fluoride ions to water in order to reduce tooth decay in the general population. Many North American and Australian municipalities fluoridate their water supplies, citing this practice's effectiveness in reducing tooth decay, the safety of fluoridation, as well as its low cost. As of 2000, around two-thirds of U.S. citizens have their drinking water fluoridated.[1]
The American Dental Association (ADA), World Health Organization (WHO), and some other health organizations recommend fluoridation of municipal water supplies to a level between 0.7 and 1.2 ppm. On the other hand, governments in some parts of the world have banned fluoridation, and the practice has provoked controversy.
Where used in very low concentrations (on the order of parts per million), fluorides are used in human health applications; specifically, fluorides such as sodium fluoride (NaF), sodium monofluorophosphate (SMFP), tin(II) fluoride (SnF2), and amine fluoride are common ingredients in toothpaste. Many dentists also give their patients semiannual fluoride treatments if they do not have a fluoridated water supply.
In its earlier days, fluoridation was dogged by an urban legend declaring it to be a communist conspiracy. This was satirized in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. It is currently dogged by health concerns which are explained more thoroughly in the article water fluoridation controversy.
See also
External links
- CDC database for the fluoridation status of neighborhood water
- Letter on flouridation from EPA (PDF) hosted by ADA
- History of fluoridation