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Collection from 27th November

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  • Activity type
    Activity guide
  • Age level
    Grades K-2
    Grades 3-5
    Grades 6-8
    Ages 13-15
  • Group size
    3-4

Adding fluoride to the water

During the early 1900s, researchers realized that people in areas with naturally high levels of fluoride in their water system were more likely to have dental fluorosis—a condition that usually affects children who consume too much fluoride while their teeth are developing.

Dental fluorosis is a “mottling of enamel,” says John Morris, a senior lecturer in dental public health at the University of Birmingham in the U.K.

It “boils down to a cosmetic condition where you get white spots or streaks on your teeth,” says Cheryline Pezzullo, a professor at NYU College of Dentistry.

Yet, people with fluorosis also had much lower cavity rates due to a low level of fluoride naturally present in the water. 

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JANUS3rdeditionFebruary2024.pdf
JANUS3rdeditionFebruary2024.pdf

Consuming a safe dose

Fluoride is a natural component of bone.

“There is no vertebrate—human, animal—that doesn't have fluoride in its system,” says Howard Pollick, a dental scientist at the University of California, San Francisco.

Long-term exposure to fluoride at concentrations of over four parts per million can cause skeletal fluorosis, weakening the bones.

This significantly exceeds the World Health Organization’s recommended level of 1.5 milligrams per liter as well as the 0.7 mg recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service.