Across the Atlantic, authorities have been putting fluoride in tap water since 1945. They hope to improve the oral health of Americans. But for Robert F. Kennedy Junior, the next American Minister of Health, this practice would cause “arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, loss of intelligence quotient [QI]neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid diseases.
You only need to take a look at his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) program to see that RFK junior, anti-vax, is multiplying conspiracy theories. ” These fake news are not from yesterday. In the 1950s and 1960s, we saw fake American generals claiming that the communists were poisoning Americans' drinking water with potentially neurotoxic fluoride or that the Nazis were giving it to prisoners to make them more docile,” explains Christophe Lequart, surgeon. -dentist and spokesperson for the French Union for Oral Health (UFSBD).
Fluoride in toothpaste vs. fluoride in skis
However, “no serious study shows a link between fluoride and neurotoxicity and no serious site says that we lose IQ if we take too much fluoride,” assures Patrick Baudot, dental surgeon. Often, concerns come from confusion between the molecule which is present in toothpaste and in drinking water in the United States – tap water is not supplemented with fluoride in France – and the fluoride present in d other products such as stoves or fluorinated wax under skis, banned since 2023.c “But they are not the same molecules, in skis, they are perfluorinated,” explains Christophe Lequart who ensures that fluoride is not only safe but also “the only molecule that can prevent the appearance of cavities”. “At a certain dose, fluoride combined with the mineral structure of enamel makes it more resistant,” he explains.
The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products also specifies that the “most effective measure for preventing carious lesions is brushing your teeth at least twice daily with a fluoridated toothpaste”. Essential prevention when we know that caries is the most common non-communicable disease in the world, according to the WHO.
The risk of fluorosis
So, of course, “beyond a certain concentration of fluoride, there is a risk of dental fluorosis”, admits Christophe Lequart who explains that in too large quantities “the quality of the enamel declines and it is more susceptible to decay.” In cases of fluorosis, white spots may appear, even brown teeth and, in the most severe cases, tooth crumbling. “It’s true that around thirty years ago, fluoride tablets associated with fluoridated salt, processed dishes which contain a lot of it and certain areas, naturally fluoridated, we had a lot of fluorosis”, relates Patrick Baudot.
But the dentist assures that he is currently observing the opposite problem. Among his patients, the doctor has several cases of children whose parents, environmentalists, make their own toothpaste, without fluoride. “Unfortunately, I see an increase in cavities among these children,” he slips. Basically, fluoride intake “is a question of balance, like everything,” assures the dentist.
But across the Atlantic, this decision could accentuate inequalities. “Oral health is a real socio-economic marker and the most advantaged have private insurance which recommends or even imposes on their members preventive actions such as the application of fluoride varnish on the teeth,” explains Christophe Lequart. Removing fluoride from tap water could therefore primarily affect the most vulnerable and “wreak havoc”.
