Breastfeeding is the most recommend possible for at least the first 12 months of life. However, while there are valid reasons a family might need to use formula, infants who drink formula are at the greatest risk of common side effects.
Parents have plenty of reasons to worry about safe drinking water these days. From lead and disinfection byproducts to perchlorate and atrazine, heavy metals and toxic chemicals in water systems harm health and the environment.
And for decades, municipal utilities have added another chemical to drinking water: fluoride.
Unfortunately, research shows that adding fluoride to drinking water, rather than toothpaste, is not the most effective way to combat tooth decay. And there is growing evidence that ingesting too much fluoride can be harmful.
WLT commented further:
So…why is it being added to the baby’s water again? And did you know there was such a thing as “baby water”?
There is, and it is being added…
Watch this on Rumble and check for yourself next time you’re at the store:
Watch it here: Rumble/Video
Fluoride is added to baby water for babies who have no teeth.
I’m sure it’s nothing…
The primary health concern is dental enamel fluorosis, and the most vulnerable are newborn babies who drink formula. And a groundbreaking new study found that exposure to fluoride during pregnancy can harm IQ and cognitive development in children.
Here’s what Sprout Dentistry has to say:
People have debated the effects of fluoride for years, but like with anything controversial that could affect your health, there is a lot of misinformation floating around about what fluoride is, what it does, and why it can be important (or harmful) for human health.When it comes to children’s health, the topic becomes even more heated. Especially since what dental professionals consider to be healthy and recommended for older kids and adults is not always the same for babies and toddlers. The fluoride vs. no fluoride debate shows no signs of stopping, but some basic facts are worth knowing when it comes to making decisions about fluoride and kids.
What Is Fluoride?
Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in things like air, water, plants and rocks. While it can occur naturally, it can also be added to things like drinking water and toothpaste. Because fluoride helps prevent tooth decay in humans, many dental products like toothpaste and mouthwash boast this element among their ingredients.While a certain amount of fluoride is beneficial and even necessary for the dental health of all humans, babies and very young children don’t need as much fluoride as older kids and adults.
Why Is Fluoride Important?
Fluoride is mainly used to improve human dental health. When we eat food, there are bacteria in our mouths that help break the sugars and carbs down. When they break down these foods, they create an acid that can destroy the protective layer of our teeth, called the enamel.Weakened enamel endangers the structural integrity of your teeth and makes your teeth vulnerable to harmful bacteria that cause cavities.Fluoride helps repair the enamel on your teeth, and it can even prevent the enamel from breaking downin the first place. Fluoride penetrates the crystalline structure of enamel, creating a stronger, more dense enamel shell compared to enamel with no fluoride exposure. The effects of fluoride on dental health is why many kinds of toothpaste and mouth rinses tend to have fluoride added to them.Experts consider it to be one of the best ways to prevent and repair tooth decay in humans. It also helps make sure kids have healthier teeth. From the 1960s through the 1990s, the addition of fluoride in drinking water and dental products reduced the number of 12-year-old kids with missing or decaying teeth by 68%.
Is Fluoride Good for Children
Children older than 6 months can benefit from fluoride— both topical and systemic— because it will help protect their first set of baby teeth and prevent their future adult teeth from decaying by helping build healthy enamel.Because of an inability to properly spit, babies and young children tend to swallow toothpaste when having their teeth brushed. A small amount of fluoride toothpaste or mouth rinse is okay to swallow, swallowing too much could be dangerous. Therefore, kids who are unable to properly spit should have adult supervision when dispensing toothpaste and brushing their teeth.
Do Babies Need Fluoride?
Babies younger than 6 months old generally do not need any fluoride at all. At a baby’s 6-month checkup with a pediatrician, parents can discuss fluoride supplements or fluoride drops for babies. As soon as babies get their first teeth, parents should begin brushing with a fluoride toothpaste to cash in on the topical benefits of fluoride.You should start introducing fluoride for babies as the teeth come in by brushing with a dab or a smear — no bigger than the size of a grain of rice — of toothpaste with fluoride. You do not necessarily need to use a “baby toothpaste.” Any over the counter version of fluoride toothpaste will suffice.
This overexposure to Fluoride can lead to dental fluorosis, which causes white lines, spots, staining, or pitting to form on teeth and may weaken teeth as they emerge from the gums.
Even The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that if infant formula is mixed with fluoridated water, the baby’s teeth might have dental fluorosis, which appears as white spot markings on the teeth.
Sources: WLT, Sprout Dentistry
