White-spotted or yellow splotched teeth may reveal more than needed expensive cosmetic dentistry.

Children with fluoride-discolored teeth (dental fluorosis) are more likely to have bone damage, according to a study published in the journal "Fluoride."

Despite living in a low-water-fluoride district, 132 Tibetan children, aged 8 to 13-years-old, developed dental fluorosis from dietary fluoride sources such as brick tea, a popular Asian drink, fed to children as young as two years old. (1)

Wrist x-rays reveal that 96% of those children with dental fluorosis had "developmental skeletal abnormalities" including carpal bone hardening or thickening.

"Therefore, dental fluorosis in children should be viewed as more than a matter of cosmetic concern, since it can also be a sign of early-stage skeletal fluorosis that might lead to full-scale debilitating skeletal fluorosis in adulthood," write researchers Cao and colleagues.

Skeletal fluorosis with pain, stiffness and/or deforming bone defects, is common in Nalgonda, India (See: http://www.nalgonda.org/flourosis.php)

To avoid skeletal fluorosis in the U.S., the maximum-contaminant-level of fluoride allowed in drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency is 4 parts per million (4 milligrams per liter).

But, some people exceed 4 milligrams daily from their diet, alone (2). Up to 63% of children living in optimally fluoridated areas (0.7 - 1.2 ppm) have dental fluorosis (3). More studies show a link between dental fluorosis and bone damage.

A British Medical Journal study reports that older white women from fluoridated communities have a 32% higher rate of wrist fracture. (4)

A Mexican study links dental fluorosis to bone fractures. (5)

Polish pediatricians found abnormal bone changes in 11 to 15 year-olds exhibiting dental fluorosis. (5a)

A Rheumatology International study links naturally fluoridated water to knee osteoarthritis in amounts many Americans consume daily. (6)

Early fluorosis warning signs include joint pain, stomach pain, excessive thirst and urination, muscle weakness, and/or anemia, especially if accompanied by discoloration in the patient's front row of teeth, according to Dr. A.K. Susheela, Director of India's Fluorosis Research and Rural Development Foundation. (7)

A U.S. woman's spine pain alleviated when she avoided fluoride.(8)

"Americans are unaware that their arthritis or irritable bowel syndrome could be fluoride-related," says attorney Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.

Additional bone/fluoride research can be found here: http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/bone/index.html

References:

(1) http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/%7Espittle/381%2044.pdf

(2) http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2002SanDiego/techprogram/abstract_20316.htm

(3) http://www.orgsites.com/ny
/newyorkstatecoalitionopposedtofluoridation/_pgg6.php3

(4) http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?
artid=27493&rendertype=table&id=T4

(5) http://www.fluoride-journal.com/01-34-2/342-139.pdf

(5a) Chlebna-Sok'l D(1), Czerwinski E(2), "Bone structure assessment on radiographs of distal radial metaphysis in children with dental fluorosis," Fluoride, 1993 26:l, 37-44. http://www.fluoridation.com/isfr.htm

(6) http://www.orgsites.com/ny/
newyorkstatecoalitionopposedtofluoridation/_pgg7.php3

(7) http://education.vsnl.com/fluorosis/information.html

(8) http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/4607.html

SOURCE
NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.
PO Box 263,
Old Bethpage, NY 11804
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof