Solutions and Solubility

The topic of water fluoridation is very controversial as a lot of the facts are misinterpreted or misunderstood throughout the years. Some arguments are whether fluoride is a medicine and the ethical implications around the use of fluoride. Around 9-10% of water in England contains fluoride either naturally or even as an additive. Fluoride is a chemical ion of the compound fluorine and is basically found in soil, water, food and several minerals and most commonly found in things like toothpaste for its anti-tooth decay properties. However, in its natural state, fluoride is safest when it is only used in between 0.01-1.3 ppm and having too high levels of fluoride is dangerous and can cause serious health problems. The reasoning of putting fluoride in our drinking water is to decrease tooth-decay. Scientists found that the people who grew in up areas with naturally fluoridated water had up to two-thirds less of cavities than someone who was drinking water that was not fluoridated. However, as good as the benefits are, when fluoride is not used safely or properly it can lead to complications as minor as tiny white streaks occurring on your teeth, to a lower IQ, to devastating skeletal fluorosis. I was surprised to read this article as fluoride is something we use every day! My toothpaste in which I use twice a day contains fluoride to help prevent tooth decay but I did develop the small white streaks on my teeth.   Do you think that water fluoridation is necessary or is there a better solution? Do you think we should change anything?

Article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2001050/