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The Potential Danger of Fluoride


The “FLUORIDE BOMB? tooth.


Taking aside the danger of Fluoride on a bio-chemical and molecular level, one of the more pressing concerns about fluoride on teeth is the “fluoride bomb”.

?Fluoride bomb? tooth refers to tooth with decay (sometimes extensive) in the dentine, without any evidence of surface cavities. What this means is that the surface of the tooth is intact, but decay is progressing beneath it. This is usually a chance finding when the dentist takes an X-ray of the teeth. As we all know, fluoride has the ability to remineralise the surface of teeth. It has been postulated that ?fluoride bomb? can happen through 2 ways: 1. Decay starting through the pits and fissures of the tooth is exposed to high dose fluoride which will cause the surface (enamel) to harden again, but will leave the decay within the inner layer (dentine). This decay may or may not spread. 2. Parafunction habits i.e. grinding, clenching can cause microcracks to appear on teeth. This creates an access for bacteria to enter into the dentine, resulting in decay. Cracks can become larger over time due to grinding habits, thus allowing the decay to spread. From the outside however, the surface of the teeth looks fine.

The question then begs: should we be masking the problem (with a chemical agent such as fluoride) or treating the cause (i.e. lifestyle, diet, inflammation, airway etc)?

Don’t think you have any cavities?