Flouride Concerns

My son Edison woke up crying last night. As I stumbled bleary-eyed to his room I smelled a very distinct odor. He had vomited all over himself and his bedding. I got him cleaned up and put clean sheets on his bed. He got sick one more time (this time it made it into the 'yuck bucket' I put beside his bed) before he got settled. But, then he was able to go back to sleep for the rest of the night.

This morning, he was back to business as usual without any stomach complaints whatsoever. This made me ponder what could have caused his stomach to be upset last night. I suppose it could have been a very shortlived stomach bug. But, I have other suspicions.

Yesterday, he had flouride applied to his teeth at the dentist. And, I was surprised that they don't rinse the flouride. It stays on their teeth until it gradually wears away. And, this would also mean some of it is being ingested. Could the flouride have made him sick?

I mentioned this to my husband and he said he had suspected Edison's late night illness could have been the result of flouride poisoning. Now, I had heard before that flouride was actually poisonous, but thought that perhaps those sources were being overly dramatic. Besides, dentists & doctors everywhere recommend it. And, even if it's bad in large doses, the small amount found in toothpaste & flouride treatments are safe. Right?

Well, I'm not so sure anymore. This has prompted me to do some on-line research. Now, I know that info found on line often needs to be taken with a grain of salt. But, did you know that flouride is a toxic waste product? It is used in pesticides? And, there is limited, if any, proven effectiveness in preventing tooth decay. Flouride is not recommended for children under the age of 2 because it causes brain damage!! And, these are just some of the things I've found.

We don't have flouride in our water. We have well water instead of public water. Our doctor has recommended flouride tablets to us for our children for this reason. I've always been a little leery of giving these to my children & haven't filled the prescriptions. But, we use flouridated tooth paste (Is there any out there that isn't?) and I allow flouride treatments at the dentist.

Now I'm questioning what we've always been told is the responsible thing to do. And, isn't this the case with so many other things that we unthinkingly take into our bodies? I haven't been a very aware consumer, but this may have awaken something in me. I'd love to hear any thoughts that others of you have on this topic.