Fluoride in your brain, and the link with dementia

Now may be a good time to change your toothpaste

Fluoride is harmless and found naturally in the environment. Adding it to the water supply can prevent tooth decay, especially in children. So too can adding it to toothpaste.

When you put it like that, it’s hard to see why anyone would object to something so positive.

And that is how it is put to us. It is a persuasive argument, but an incomplete one. It’s the missing details that concern me, especially those pertaining to the effect of fluoride on the brain.

The basics

Fluoride, the thirteenth most abundant element on the planet, is found naturally in water: oceans, rivers, and lakes. Well water tends to have higher levels. Other natural sources include rocks, soil and food, especially fish, meat, tea, eggs, and cereals.

The missing devil in the detail

‘Fluoride’ is a broad term for the different forms of this element, and not all of them are natural. The natural form that occurs in soil and groundwater is calcium fluoride. That’s not what is added to your drinking water, or toothpaste.

Most toothpastes contain the commonly used synthetic form, sodium fluoride. This is also added to gels and mouth rinses. The amount of fluoride added to toothpaste may be low (500 ppm), standard (1100-1500ppm) or high (>1500 ppm).

In the UK, water is fluoridated with synthetic disodium hexafluorosilicate (also known as sodium fluorosilicate) and hexafluorosilicic acid. It is up to each local health authority to decide whether or not to impose fluoridation, and only certain authorities do.

Other European countries take a much more cautious approach. Few EU countries choose to fluoridate the water supply, covering only around 2% of the entire EU population of 445 million people.

In the US, most municipalities fluoridate the water supply, usually with fluorosilicic acid, sodium fluorosilicate, or sodium fluoride.

These artificial fluorides are used in oil refineries and to make fertilizers, glass, non-stick pans, industrial compounds and more.

Fluoride in the body

Fluoride has no known function in the body. Whatever form it takes, it is considered a toxin, but harmless at low levels. Even so, sodium fluoride is more toxic than natural calcium fluoride, because it is more soluble. It dissolve easily and is more readily absorbed by the body.

High levels (that is, concentrations over 1.5 mg/litre) are known to cause dental fluorosis (mottling) skeletal fluorosis (weakened bones), bone fractures, lower birth rates, kidney stones, impaired thyroid function, and reduced intellectual capacity in children.

In very high quantities, fluoride can cause multiorgan failure and death.

Dental products are the main source of fluoride toxicity, according to the American Association of Poison Control.

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The main entry point is the digestive tract, with 90% of ingested fluoride absorbed in the stomach. Half of is excreted via the kidneys, and a very small amount through faeces, hair or sweat. The rest makes its way to the heart, liver, lung, stomach, kidney, and bones.

It also finds its way to the brain.