What is fluoride and why is it in my toothpaste?

For over 5 years now I have been avoiding conventional fluoride toothpastes and for good reason, around 95% of toothpaste contains fluoride a chemical that is known to be highly toxic to our bodies. Like most people, for many years I assumed that any over the counter health care products for sale in the UK, especially ones designed for use in our mouths and oral hygiene would be safe and pose no threat to our health. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case.

So what is fluoride?

This is often where people seem to get confused as fluoride in its natural form is an earth element that can be found in things like Green tea, Himalayan rock salt and even in the soil we walk on, natural fluoride in these amounts tend to cause us no harm. (I know it won’t stop me enjoying green tea.) However, the fluoride used in our dental hygiene products and in some places even added to the water supply is actually the synthetic waste product of aluminum production and other toxic industries. Sodium Fluoride, Sodium Silicofluoride and Fluorosilic acid are the names of these toxins.

Why is this toxin added to our water and dental products?

In the late 1930s one of the leading aluminum companies in America was also the largest producer of toxic fluoride. As fluoride was classed a dangerous toxin it was proving expensive to dispose of.  This is when they turned to the services of Dr Gerald J Cox, who was tasked with a mission to find out if fluoride had any medical uses. With vested interests Cox came to the conclusion that as the natural occurring fluoride element found in green tea and some foods can help to prevent tooth decay that these toxic synthetic chemicals must also. (There is no data or scientific studies that conclude synthetic fluoride in any form can help to prevent tooth decay.) But after this finding was announced the once expensive to dispose of toxic byproduct was being sold for profit by the ton.

‘I say this with all the earnestness and sincerity of a scientist who has spent nearly 20 years researching the chemistry, biochemistry and physiology and pathology of fluorine. Any person who drinks artificially fluoridated water for a period of one year or more will never be the same person again mentally or physically’

-          Charles E. Perkins, Chemist.