"There is weak and inconsistent evidence
that the use of fluoride supplements prevents dental caries [cavities] in
primary teeth," according to a systematic review of fluoride supplement research
published in the November 2008 Journal of the American Dental Association
(JADA).
 
The authors could find only one study, from China, showing any
fluoride cavity-preventing benefit to primary teeth and that study was probably
biased with a high withdrawal rate, the authors write.
 
Mild -to-moderate
dental fluorosis (white spotted and/or yellow teeth) is a significant fluoride
supplement side effect, they report.
 
Fluoride supplements, although a
prescription drug, were never FDA [Food and Drug Administration] tested for
safety or effectiveness because sodium fluoride was on the market pre-1938
before FDA testing laws were enacted. (1)
 
In 2007, the American Dental
Association (ADA) reported on its web site that fluoride supplements put
children six and under at significant risk of permanently discolored teeth; but
never shared that information with the American public, pediatricians or MD's
who still  prescribe fluoride supplements to toddlers. (2)
 
"This review
confirmed that, in non-fluoridated communities, the use of fluoride supplements
during the first 6 years of life is associated with a significant increase in
the risk of developing dental fluorosis, write researchers Ismail & Bandekar
and first published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, February 1999,
(3) but posted to the ADA's website July 2007.
 
Fluoride supplements
sought to achieve a similar effect  as fluoridation of the water supplies when
it was believed that ingested fluoride reduced tooth decay. However, the Centers
for Disease Control now reports that fluoride's purported beneficial effects are
topical (4). Swallowing fluoride only exposes children to fluoride's adverse
health effects ( http://www.FluorideAction.Net/health ), such as
dental fluorosis.
 
"So there is no good reason to swallow fluoride via
supplements or the water supply," says attorney Paul Beeber, President, New York
State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. "Further, fluoride is neither a
nutrient nor required for healthy teeth. Poor diets decay teeth and fluoride
won't stop that," says Beeber.
 

Even the American Dental Association admits that no fluoride
supplements should be prescribed to children who aren't at high risk of
cavities. 
Studies link dental fluorosis to children's kidney damage (5) and
bone fractures (6).
 
"While fluoride ingestion is proclaimed a
significant cavity reducer, there is no valid science to support that," says
Beeber.
 
Up to 48% of school children sport dental fluorosis, the outward
sign of fluoride toxicity, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
(7) Yet tooth decay is growing in our most fluoride-exposed population -
toddlers, according to CDC data.
 
In the Fall 1999 Journal of Public
Health Dentistry, dental researcher and former dental journal editor Brian A.
Burt, Ph.D., M.P.H., B.D.Sc., University of Michigan Emeritus Professor,
writes:
 
"It is therefore concluded that the risks of using supplements
in infants and young children outweigh the benefits. Because alternative forms
of fluoride for high-risk individuals exist, fluoride supplements should no
longer be used for young children in North America."(8)
 
Even fluoridated
toothpaste hasn't been proven to prevent toddlers' cavities. According to the
June 2009 JADA (9) Only one study shows 1,450 parts per million  fluoridated
toothpaste is effective in primary dentition; but 25 - 35% of the test subjects
developed fluorosis although living in a  non-water-fluoridated area of England.
(10)
 
Doubts persist about fluoridation also: "It may...be that
fluoridation of drinking water does not have a strong protective effect against
early childhood caries (ECC) reported Pollick and colleagues in the Winter 2003
Journal of Public Health Dentistry.
 
Casamassimo and colleagues report in the June 2009 JADA  that
high levels of ECC  persist despite  water fluoridation  and use of fluoridated
toothpaste. (11)
 
A study in the Fall 2008 Journal of Public Health Dentistry
reveals that  cavity-free teeth have little to do with fluoride intake.
Researchers report, "The benefits of fluoride are mostly topical…while fluorosis
is clearly more dependent on fluoride intake."
 
"Fluoridation began with the untested belief that ingested
fluoride prevented tooth decay in small children, only. Evidence-based-dentistry
now shows that swallowing fluoride poses dental risks without benefits to the
very children fluoridation was supposed to help," says Beeber.  Fluoridation
must be stopped immediately and parents and physicians must be notified of these
new scientific developments."
 

References:
 
1) August 2000 letter from NJ
Assemblyman Kelly to Senator Robert Smith http://www.fluoridealert.org/fda.htm
 
2)
http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/ebd/reviews/fluoride_supplements.asp
 
3) "Fluoride supplements and fluorosis: a meta-analysis," Community
Dentistry & Oral Epidemiology, 1999 Feb;27(1):48-56, by Ismail &
Bandekar .
 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=10086926
 
4)  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5014a1.htm
 
5) "Dose-effect relationship between drinking water fluoride levels
and damage to liver and kidney functions in children," Environmental
Research,2007 Jan;103(1):112-6. Epub 2006 Jul 10, by Xiong, et.
al
 
http://tinyurl.com/34lj92
 
6) "Dental and
Early-State Skeletal Fluorosis in Children Induced by Fluoride in Brick-Tea,"
Fluoride 2005;38(1):44-47 Cao, et. al
http://www.fluorideresearch.org/381/files/38144-47.pdf
 
7) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/figures/s403a1t23.gif
 
8) "The case for eliminating the use of dietary fluoride
supplements
for young children," Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Fall
1999, by
Burt
 
http://tinyurl.com/2bnoff
 
9) Journal of
the American Dental Association, June 2009,  Guest Editorial
 
"Fluoridated Toothpaste and the Prevention of Early Childhood
Caries
 
A Failure to Meet the Needs of Our Young." by Peter M.
Milgrom, DDS, Colleen E. Huebner, PhD, MPH and Kiet A. Ly, MD, MPH
 
10)
http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?typ=fulltext&file=CRE2006040001066
 
11) Journal of the American Dental Association, June 2009,
"Beyond the dmft: The Human and Economic Cost of Early Childhood Caries," by
Casamassimo, Thikkurissy, Edelstein, Maiorini