Calcium can counteract fluoride damage

A study has found that an increase in calcium in diet can help widespread dental health problems caused by excessive fluoride consumption in remote regions of Ethiopia.

The areas have high levels of naturally occurring fluoride in the groundwater which harms tooth enamel and bones if too much is consumed.

An effort has been on treating the drinking water to reduce fluoride levels but fluoride levels were found to be too high for the process to be effective.

The study found that alternatively, calcium can be increased in the villagers' diet to help prevent fluoride damage.

Increased numbers of fluorosis have been reported around the globe, which highlights the importance of this study as global warming could worsen the quality of drinking water in upcoming years.

Read more at Duke University Medical Centre

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2 Comments sorted by

  1. David McRae

    Retired - community health / health promotion professional

    Fluoride in drinking water damages the health of some consumers in regions that practice artificial fluoride addition, like most of Australia. I do believe that increasing both calcium and magnesium intake can mitigate fluorotic effects, as the article says, but it begs a very big question. If removal of fluoride from water is the best approach, in Ethiopia, and also regions in India and China, surely ceasing fluoride addition in Australia would be the safest approach for community health.
    The idea that water fluoridation makes any significant difference to anyone's tooth decay levels was brough into very serious doubt by the largest systematic review of the matter: the British government commissioned York University Review of 2000.

    report

    1. Sue Ieraci

      Public hospital clinician

      In reply to David McRae

      David McRae - endemic fluorosis in the Ethiopian Rift Valley has been known for many years, and is known to be dose-related:
      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3433336

      Similar conditions have been found in parts of India:
      http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896970900607X
      "Determining the optimal fluoride concentration in drinking water for fluoride endemic regions in South India". Quoting directly from this paper:
      "The prevalence of fluorosis is mainly due to the intake of…

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