top of page

Another Health Freedom Lost

Writer's picture: Dr. Thomas J. LewisDr. Thomas J. Lewis

As you may know, I am writing a book titled "Health Freedom Lost." The chapter I am just finishing is on oral health. I asked Dr. Patricia Berube to make a contribution to this chapter and she went well beyond expectations. Information on Dr. Berube is included below along with her "must watch" video on oral care and dental decision advice.


What is provided below is mostly my musings. Those of Dr. Berube will presented in the next blog.

 

Today's topic: Fluoride........ (this text has not been copy edited yet...)


The issue about fluoride is about health freedom and not dental caries. In communities that add fluorine compounds to water leave their citizens with not or little choice. In many cases, the people do not know there is added fluorine compounds like they are aware that chlorine in one form or another is there to sanitize the water. Ultimately this is the issue:

  • Fluoride toothpaste: your choice to buy and use

  • Fluoride in water: If you cannot afford expensive removal systems or bottled water then you have no choice but to take in this additive at unnatural levels.

  • Dentists most often encourage fluoride as the only option to reduce dental decay even though it is NOT the root-cause of the process.


This does NOT look like health freedom to me.


There is only one conclusion to be drawn about fluoridation of water.


It is a failure.


Even if adding fluoride to water is safe, it is still a failure. In water fluoridation, it is most likely not sufficiently concentrated to impact tooth enamel but is enough to harm health. Figure 1 shows the rates of tooth decay in countries with and without fluoridation in water.

Figure 1. Left axis is the rate of dental decay measured in countries with and without water fluoridation. Right axis is the expenditure for dental care over the same period of time. The vertical green bars represent the spending during that year for dental care in the United States.


Fluoride toothpastes were introduced in the late 1950s. Many sources attribute dramatic reduction in cavities in the 1970s to these pastes and fluoride compounds in the water. Apparently dramatic upswing in dentists had no impact on dental health. The chart above implies the conclusions.

· Water fluoridation has no impact or tooth decay

· Fluoride in toothpastes may impact tooth decay

· Dental visits may impact tooth decay


The fluoride advocates indicate it is the fluoride that is predominantly responsible for reduction in cavities. It that is the case, why are we spending so much for dental care? Do we need to go to a dentist? Do we need to brush our teeth or can we just let the fluoridated water seep into the enamel and never have a cavity again?


If you want to live a long healthy life, enamel health is the least of your concerns. People who are aging are often referred to as "long in the tooth." This is a silly term that actually means "short in the gums." What does fluoride do for gum health other than nothing?


I never join a society because they all have advertised on hidden agendas. I would like to be a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) but I cannot align myself with any type of misinformation. The ACS should be the authority on fluoride but they fall short by promoting a chemical - fluoride. Not surprise, they are the American Chemical Society. Here is an article from the ACS titled, 'New evidence on how fluoride fights tooth decay.'[i]


Karin Jacobs and colleagues explain that despite a half-century of scientific research, controversy still exists over exactly how fluoride compounds reduce the risk of tooth decay. That research established long ago that fluoride helps to harden the enamel coating that protects teeth from the acid produced by decay-causing bacteria. Newer studies already found that fluoride penetrates into and hardens a much thinner layer of enamel than previously believed, lending credence to other theories about how fluoride works.


The report describes new evidence that fluoride also works by impacting the adhesion force of bacteria that stick to the teeth and produce the acid that causes cavities. The experiments — performed on artificial teeth (hydroxyapatite pellets) to enable high-precision analysis techniques — revealed that fluoride reduces the ability of decay-causing bacteria to stick, so that also on teeth, it is easier to wash away the bacteria by saliva, brushing and other activity.


Let us use some biology on the chemists by dissecting their statements on fluoride.

  • If chemists cannot determine how fluoride works in 50 years, fire them all. What this really means is they cannot find a mechanism that matches the narrative. Chemists have and had the tools to determine how fluoride interacts with the structure of teeth. This statement is a clear red flag.

  • Most believe the fluoride can harden the enamel because it is a small molecule that creates strong bonds. This is reasonable buy why, after 50 years, is this not a proven mechanism. Something else hardens boney tissue. It is a drug called Fosamax. Figure 2 shows what happens when bones are chemically altered with an chemical that is not natural to the body.


Figure 2. Common side effect from the use of Fosamax is a clean fracture that occurs, in many cases, upon minimal trauma.


What does Fosamax do? It makes a malleable bone more brittle. What does fluoride do? Makes your teeth more brittle.


· The report describes new evidence that fluoride also works by impacting the adhesion force of bacteria that stick to the teeth and produce the acid that causes cavities. Do we really need to put an antibiotic in the water and our toothpastes? Polluting our water is completely unnecessary. There are much better ways to protect our teeth and gums without spreading an aggressive chemical throughout our environment.


The ACS indicates that fluoride reduces the impact of bacteria on the teeth opens the door to eliminating its use and switch to much better and safer alternatives. The oral protocol presented by Dr. Thom Lokensgard above is designed to "reduce the impact of bacteria" without fluoride. Mission accomplished.


Fluoride is ubiquitously present throughout the world. It is released from minerals, magmatic gas, and industrial processing, and travels in the atmosphere and water. Exposure to fluoride in the part per million (PPM) range results in a wide array of toxicity phenotypes. This includes oxidative stress, organelle damage, and apoptosis in single cells, and skeletal and soft tissue damage in multicellular organisms. The mechanism of fluoride toxicity can be broadly attributed to four mechanisms: inhibition of proteins, organelle disruption, altered pH, and electrolyte imbalance.


The altered electrolyte balance is not well studied or at least not well described in the scientific or medical literature. Due to its strong affinity for electrons, fluoride will out-compete other mineral leading to electrolyte imbalances. Electrolytes drive the electricity in our bodies by facilitating active transport - the process of getting nutrients into and out of cells. Fluoride, being chemically similar to iodide, is reported to impact thyroid health that depends upon the relatively weak bonds that iodine creates.


Fluoride is a naturally occurring substance. At the very low levels it is found in nature, it probably offers benefits to either soils, organisms, plants, animals. At levels greater than found in nature, but even at low levels in fluoridation, may have subtle impacts on health. Sixty percent of U.S. adults have at least one chronic condition. Might low levels of fluoride artificially added to our internal environment be a contributor? These are the kinds outcomes that are hard to either prove or disprove in even a clinical trial of best design. Why? Chronic diseases develop over 20+ years and clinical trials do not go on that long.


Dr. Zev Zelenko was a champion of COVID-19 early treatment along with Dr. McCullough. He set forth three (3) criteria for using a treatment. Here are the three and my opinion on how they apply to fluoride in toothpastes and, most importantly, in our drinking water.

1. Is it safe? The dose makes the poison and fluoride is an aggressive and toxic substances even at low doses. The "jury is still out" with regard to fluoride at the levels used in dentistry. How, the available data points to potential harm.

2. Is it effective? The data does not support effectiveness. Oral pathogens constitute the true oral health risk, not the structure of teeth. And there are superior alternatives that does not involve contaminating our water supply.

3. Is it necessary? Adding fluoride through any means is completely unnecessary. We have advanced substantially since fluoride was first introduced in the 1950s and subsequently supported by the American Dental Association. My 2018 Camry Hybrid is superior compared to my grandmother's 1957 Chevy. The same is true of dental care devoid of fluoride.


Dr. Patricia Berube weighs in on fluoride. As a functional periodontist, what she sees clinically matters.


Here views on fluoride will be presented in the next blog. Stay tuned.


[i] https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2013/acs-presspac-may-29-2013/new-evidence-on-how-fluoride-fights-tooth-decay.html, May 29, 2013.

 

Dr. Patty Berube - functional periodontist - presented on oral and whole body health. This webinar / video content is of critical importance for anyone over the age of 50. Silent oral pathogens are a major cause of degenerative chronic conditions. This has been known for centuries but it not commonly or properly evaluated in medicine today.


Benjamin Rush, MD - a founding father stated, "I am yet one more doctor who demonstrated that, when an infected tooth is removed, general health is restored."


Charles Mayo, MD - founder of the famous Mayo Clinic stated, “The next move in preventive medicine must come from the members of the dental profession; will they do it?”


She is doing it!






Here is the link: https://youtu.be/8bg7cfWKLZ8

 
Dr. Patricia Berube, DMD

Dr. Berube is a functionally oriented Periodontist. She has been practicing exclusively in Periodontics for almost 20 years. Periodontics is the study of the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease (or gum disease), in addition to surgical therapies including placement of dental implants for tooth replacement and all that entails. She also treats oral conditions in the mouth, is versed in oral/systemic connections and periodontal plastic procedures. After college, she completed dental school training at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine to receive her DMD and entered a three-year Periodontics residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where she also obtained her Periodontics certificate, as well as a Master’s degree. She soon became Board Certified in Periodontics. After her training, she worked in Boston until she moved back to Texas to open her own practice. She believes that this is when her education really began.


 

Weekly Webinar Links:


Monday at noon EST -

https://zoom.us/j/98909186325?pwd=Nmx3VFJZQVdkQ1p6OHh3OXFTRklyUT09


Tuesday at 8pm EST -

 

Stay Well







686 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


Get our blog and invitations to our FREE weekly live webinars.

Thanks for subscribing!

quote-the-experimenter-who-does-not-know-what-he-is-looking-for-will-not-understand-what-h
400dpiLogo.png

Tel: 202-630-3221

Copyright 2022 Health Revival Partners All Rights Reserved

info@healthrevivalpartners.com

bottom of page