The package above contains sodium fluoride, a drug that is routinely prescribed to children in the United States as a means to prevent cavities.
These forms of fluoride come in tablets and lozenges and are often called fluoride supplements. But don't let the word supplement fool you as these are not supplements in the way that calcium, magnesium and other real nutrients are.
In fact, due to fluoride’s toxicity, you can't even buy fluoride supplements over the counter, you can only get them through a prescription. And unlike true dietary supplements, fluoride is not an essential nutrient, which means you don't need to swallow any fluoride to maintain good health.
It's also crucial for you to know that according to a recent warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing fluoride drugs as cavity preventatives violates federal law because the FDA has never approved these drugs for this purpose.
Yet these drugs are still being prescribed to millions of children throughout the U.S and are even still being sold at the nation's largest pharmacies including Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and Walmart.
The overwhelming consensus among scientists today is that fluoride's primary benefit to teeth comes from topical application to the outside of the teeth such as from brushing and rinsing and not from ingestion, so there's no need for children to swallow any fluoride whether in drops, tablets or water.
Swallowing fluoride is not only ineffective it's potentially dangerous especially for children fluoride is now well recognized as an endocrine disrupting substance and a neurotoxin.
Studies suggest that ingesting fluoride during early childhood may cause learning and behavioral problems low thyroid function and other potential harm including bone fragility bone cancer and dental fluorosis.
Dental fluorosis is a visible mineralization defective tooth enamel caused by excessive ingestion of fluoride during childhood which can be permanently disfiguring when present on a child's Front Teeth.
Based on what we now know about fluoride, we need to find ways to reduce children's intake of fluoride not increase it. Removing unapproved, ineffective and dangerous fluoride drugs from the market is one obvious way to do that.
You can help put an end to this illegal practice by sharing these essential facts with others
you don't need to swallow fluoride in any form, whether in tablets drops lozenges or water
ingesting fluoride presents serious health risks, particularly for young children
fluoride supplements are prescription drugs that have never been approved by the FDA
For more information about the hazards of fluoride to human health and the environment, please visit the Fluoride Facts section on the IAOMT website.
What do you think? Should the FDA take fluoride supplements off the market?
Fluoride Supplements