I recently learned of bad things about fluoride in an article I read. Fluoride is the by-product of production and the government decided the best way to get rid of this waste is to promote it as healthy for your teeth and sell it to toothpaste companies. I bought tooth chips from Rose of Sharon Acres:

http://www.roseofsharonacres.com/tooth_chips___soap_for_teeth

And I am not giving my kids flouride supplements anymore and the next time I go to the dentist I will have to request that they don't get flouride treatments. I hope the dentist doesn't get mad at me!

Not to dismiss the issues brought up here out of hand, but Dr. Mercola has been warned several times by the FDA and other authorities for giving out misleading information and for pushing vitamin/medicines for sale based on it. I know people will complain that the FDA is The Man, but plenty of credible and skeptical alternative health sites manage to go about their business informing the public without running afoul of the government (and hawking dubious wares to boot). 

I have been studying herbal medicine and alternative health for over 30 years and while initially, I was excited by Dr. Mercola's FB page in particular, the deeper I looked, the more I found information I knew to be shoddy, and the more I found him unnecessarily scaring people with information unproven by both traditional and non-traditional science.

So please, be informed beyond just one source, particularly one with a financial motive to scare the fluoride out of you. 

I should add, the warnings Mercola received were not about fluoride. And I agree, the time has come for it to be proven that we need it by the people putting it in our water. 

I think I'm going to need some more information before I stop using toothpaste.

I have the same question Andie. This isn't the first time I've heard mention of it maybe being bad for us but still nothing that says why it is. 

Erring on the side of caution, I have been flouride free for years now and my mouth feels so healty. I'm sure it helps that I eat a healthy diet as well.  I have not had a single cavity since I was a child (and being given flouride).  I don't know the details about flouride, so maybe it is beneficial for some, but putting it in our water source and blindly giving it to everyone just seems like a bad idea.  If it is beneficial to some folks, for reason I don't know, then it should be given in a case by case basis.  I've thrived without it so I know it's unnecessary for me.  I use JASON SLS Free toothpaste (also free of flouride) and I love it! 

A hygenist at my dentist's office got really defensive when I told her I didn't want floride treatment.  She insisted that I tell her the reason behind my refusal. Then she told me my teeth will have no protection against cavities.  It's been about 3 years since I had my last floride treatment and I haven't had a cavity since.  Funny thing is, I used to get cavities all the time for no reason at all! 

An interesting book about this topic is "The Fluoride Deception" by Bryce. Fluorine compounds are poisonous and have not been shown to be safe at the 2 PPM level. I drink well water or Perrier from glass bottles. The fluoride story is typical of how our health is a distant second to corporate profits in America. Our "health system" is ranked #1 in producing profits but it is ranked #37 in providing health benefits to its population. Our "health system" does very little about diet and lifestyles factors, but continues to over apply surgical and drug interventions. The evidence of fluoride dangers have been ignored as it is added to water, foods, medicines, and dental products.

I would encourage people to read the " scientific, evidence based" information on CDC's (center for disease control) web site.http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/benefits.htm

Please be aware of  the fact that not every research has scientific value. There are several evidence based research published supports Fluoride benefits on teeth. 

GG

I echo Janet's statements. I'm surprised to see Dr. Mercola listed as a source here because his "research" is, well, controversial...at best.

P.S. That said, I do try to avoid fluoride personally.

I get it have a system at home that removes it from my water as well after being shocked horror stories about how bad it is for you!

http://elizabethskindcafe.com/

I buy flouride free toothpaste from Whole Foods and I've been told the water in Baton Rouge isn't treated with flouride although I haven't done much research...

My son, who is now 7 years old, has never eaten a candy bar in his life. He wouldn't even know what one tastes like.

He's never had sugar. He never gets processed foods. In other words, foods that are not whole.

He was breastfed until he was 2 and a half,  drinks pure spring water, eats wholesome  foods (99% organic, raw where we can and vegan of course :-) ) and we consider what we put on his skin as much as what we put in his body because as you already know, skin absorbs what is put on it too and goes into the body. What that means is, no shampoos, no soaps, no toothpaste, organic clothing, swimming in natural water outlets, organic bedding etc etc etc

We visited the dentist recently and he didn't have one cavity in his mouth.

The dentist said that they have children coming in to see them with cavities at the age of 2.

If we were to put back what was missing from our diets...hold on a second... how about taking that a step further... in our entire lifestyle.... Would we even need to consider fluoride?

   Im a dental hygienist, and I will not suggest systemic fluoride because there's Plenty of compelling evidence of its toxicity. Topical fluoride (in-office treatments, or at home toothpaste) will be something I ethically struggle with still offering..but personally, I feel that heavy metals/industrial minerals in the body are detrimental and dangerous. How convenient that industrial by-product can be recycled, sparing the deep pockets the expense and annoyance of properly disposing of hazardous material....