Re: Please summarize the recent Scientific American article on fluoride

Matt wrote:
Mark & Steven Bornfeld wrote:

Ironically, the largest number of kids with decay I see are those who try to avoid tap water, and those with special dietary needs. These would include many health-conscious families who wish to avoid fluoride specifically,

Not clear whether you should report your result to Broffitt et al:

I'm sure my impression is too anecdotal to be meaningful. I only hear about it when (usually the mother) protests that the kids eat no sweets and brush 14 times a day, so they CAN'T be getting cavities. With the Orthodox children with high caries rate, there are enough dietary differences that it would be difficult to develop any kind of control.
However, it does point out the possible information to be gleaned by keeping dietary information on our patients.

Thanks,
Steve



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17899900?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

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1: J Public Health Dent. 2007 Summer;67(3):151-8.Click here to read Links
An investigation of bottled water use and caries in the mixed dentition.
Broffitt B, Levy SM, Warren JJ, Cavanaugh JE.

Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA. barbara-broffitt@xxxxxxxxx

OBJECTIVES: Bottled water consumption in the United States has greatly increased in the past decade. Because the majority of commercial bottled water is low in fluoride, there is the potential for an increase in dental caries. In these secondary data analyses, associations between bottled water use and dental caries were explored. METHODS: Subjects (n = 413) are in the Iowa Fluoride Study, which included dental examinations of the primary (approximately aged 5) and early erupting permanent (approximately aged 9) dentitions by trained dentist examiners. Permanent tooth caries and primary second molar increments were related to bottled water use using logistic and negative binomial regression models. All models were adjusted for age and the frequency of toothbrushing. RESULTS: Bottled water use in this cohort was fairly limited (approximately 10 percent). While bottled water users had significantly lower fluoride intakes, especially fluoride from water, there were no sign
ificant differences found in either permanent tooth caries (P = 0.20 and 0.91 for prevalence and D(2+)FS, respectively) or primary second molar caries (P = 0.94 and 0.74 for incidence and d(2+)fs increment, respectively). Results for smooth surfaces differed somewhat from those for pit and fissure surfaces, but neither showed significant differences related to bottled water use. CONCLUSION: While bottled water users had significantly lower fluoride intakes, this study found no conclusive evidence of an association with increased caries. Further study is warranted, preferably using studies designed specifically to address this research question.

PMID: 17899900 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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See also: http://www.fluoridealert.org/2007research/08.html

though to be honest fluoride is so ubiquitous that I question whether this could account for the increased caries rate I observe.
.

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