Edited: December 5, 2018

Packages of fluoride toothpaste currently have this type of warning message in Canada:

Do not swallow. Children under 6 years of age should use only a pea-sized amount and be supervised while brushing.

The same box of Crest toothpaste states that the medicinal ingredient, Sodium Fluoride is “0.243% w/w (Fluoride 0.11% w/w)”. This refers to the weight to weight ratio and means that 100 grams of toothpaste contains 0.243 grams of sodium fluoride and 0.11 grams of fluoride.

According to the package, the toothpaste is not meant to be swallowed, so we reason that the medical effect of the fluoride is not intended to act internally, but to act externally on the teeth.

In contrast, when municipal drinking water is fluoridated, obviously there is no official warning that I know of to not swallow drinking water.

The chemical used in fluoridation is not the same form of fluoride as in toothpaste.

Questions

Should there be a warning to limit your dose of fluoridated water or vary your dose based on age?

Shouldn’t everybody have a choice regarding a medicine(?) that they end up having to drink–or spray on their lawn or wash their car with?

And if fluoride is such an essential mineral, why aren’t our teeth and bones originally built with fluoride?

If water fluoridation is for our benefit, why are other minerals not added to drinking water?

Part 2

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