John White
Dr. Mills
English 121-117
5 October 2015
Drinking Poison?
I remember when I first heard about it. I was living in Provo Utah at the time and I had seen several picket signs that had been thrust into the lawn outside of Utah Valley University. Each sign painted an eerie picture as it contained an image of a skull and crossbones within a water droplet leaking out of a water faucet. Beneath the haunting image was a caption that read, “We are drinking poison!” There was a small group of people in that community which had a strong, loud voice. They were talking about fluoride in drinking water. Critics, like these, are all over the country, as well as other nations. They are opposed to fluoride and believe it is bad. Is this matter …show more content…
Farwell of the World health Organization, It is stated that small amounts of fluoride in drinking water can be beneficial to your teeth. It can help them become stronger as they naturally wear down over time. In a way the fluoride counteracts this process of teeth wearing down over time. It wasn’t until after the mid 1940’s though that the idea of water fluoridation was born. What this meant was that fluoride was added to public water systems to decrease the amount of cavities among the population. It became an official policy of the U.S. Public health Services in an attempt to elevate the oral health of the national community. However in J Farwell’s book it also mentions that water containing fluoride in high amounts can be harmful to the body. Skeletal Fluorosis is a disease which results from excessive accumulation of fluoride. This disease is known to cause pain to both bone and joints in extreme cases. This is also why public water systems seek to decrease the amount of fluoride in water if it is too much, thus making it a healthy amount. It is interesting to see the stark contrast between the two as a little bit can be good and too much can be bad. What then is the proper amount of fluoride to take into one’s body for it to be beneficial? When does it become …show more content…
Brittani is a recent graduate of the Utah College of Dental Hygiene, and has been highly educated on the matter of water fluoridation. Brittani first points out an important truth that since fluoride occurs naturally in water sources it is sometimes unnecessary to add it. She also states that as calcium strengthens the bones, so does fluoride strengthen the teeth. In response the question “What is the proper amount of fluoride in water?” she answered, “0.7 ppm (parts per million).” That is like comparing a credit card to a Football field. It is important to note that toothpaste has 1000 ppm! Which is why you should never swallow your toothpaste, it contains too much to ingest all at once! I think this is interesting because according to the statistic mentioned above by Dr. Connett, fluorosis is more common among children today than in 1950. Children (accidently or intentional) are more likely to ingest toothpaste. I suppose that fluorosis would sky rocket then, because receiving 1000 ppm of Fluoride is much more detrimental then 0.7ppm. So lesson learned, it is important to be cautious when children (especially young children, under 5 years) are brushing their teeth. Dentists and Dental Hygienists even recommend that an adult be present with kids, even if they (the adult) are not brushing the kid’s teeth. I believe this high national average of fluorosis among children will go down if
Dr. Mills
English 121-117
5 October 2015
Drinking Poison?
I remember when I first heard about it. I was living in Provo Utah at the time and I had seen several picket signs that had been thrust into the lawn outside of Utah Valley University. Each sign painted an eerie picture as it contained an image of a skull and crossbones within a water droplet leaking out of a water faucet. Beneath the haunting image was a caption that read, “We are drinking poison!” There was a small group of people in that community which had a strong, loud voice. They were talking about fluoride in drinking water. Critics, like these, are all over the country, as well as other nations. They are opposed to fluoride and believe it is bad. Is this matter …show more content…
Farwell of the World health Organization, It is stated that small amounts of fluoride in drinking water can be beneficial to your teeth. It can help them become stronger as they naturally wear down over time. In a way the fluoride counteracts this process of teeth wearing down over time. It wasn’t until after the mid 1940’s though that the idea of water fluoridation was born. What this meant was that fluoride was added to public water systems to decrease the amount of cavities among the population. It became an official policy of the U.S. Public health Services in an attempt to elevate the oral health of the national community. However in J Farwell’s book it also mentions that water containing fluoride in high amounts can be harmful to the body. Skeletal Fluorosis is a disease which results from excessive accumulation of fluoride. This disease is known to cause pain to both bone and joints in extreme cases. This is also why public water systems seek to decrease the amount of fluoride in water if it is too much, thus making it a healthy amount. It is interesting to see the stark contrast between the two as a little bit can be good and too much can be bad. What then is the proper amount of fluoride to take into one’s body for it to be beneficial? When does it become …show more content…
Brittani is a recent graduate of the Utah College of Dental Hygiene, and has been highly educated on the matter of water fluoridation. Brittani first points out an important truth that since fluoride occurs naturally in water sources it is sometimes unnecessary to add it. She also states that as calcium strengthens the bones, so does fluoride strengthen the teeth. In response the question “What is the proper amount of fluoride in water?” she answered, “0.7 ppm (parts per million).” That is like comparing a credit card to a Football field. It is important to note that toothpaste has 1000 ppm! Which is why you should never swallow your toothpaste, it contains too much to ingest all at once! I think this is interesting because according to the statistic mentioned above by Dr. Connett, fluorosis is more common among children today than in 1950. Children (accidently or intentional) are more likely to ingest toothpaste. I suppose that fluorosis would sky rocket then, because receiving 1000 ppm of Fluoride is much more detrimental then 0.7ppm. So lesson learned, it is important to be cautious when children (especially young children, under 5 years) are brushing their teeth. Dentists and Dental Hygienists even recommend that an adult be present with kids, even if they (the adult) are not brushing the kid’s teeth. I believe this high national average of fluorosis among children will go down if