Fluoridation Fails Australia
Even with the
application of water fluoridation in Australia for over half a century, tooth
decay is still considered by the Australian Dental
Associationas one of the country's
most prevalent diseases. The problem is that fluoride fails to address the core
reason of why tooth decay occurs: our diet.
Dental decay has
only existed in its contemporary form for
about 200 years, or since the turn of the industrial revolution. This is when
you can pinpoint the introduction of large-scale delivery of refined grains into
our diet. It's also where our diets transformed from consumption of local
produce to the global business that food is today.
Before this,
archeological records show that humans lived for thousands of years without the
significant presence of any dental disease. In the animal kingdom tooth decay
is equally rare. The unsettling reality is that tooth decay is a disease of
human civilisation and while fluoride has applications in treatment, it's by no
means the silver bullet.