Study Proves Chocolate is Better for Your Teeth than Fluoride

Dr. Mercola | Mercola.com

Image: Thinkstock

Fluoride is a toxic industrial waste product that is a poison to your body even in trace amounts, yet it is added to the majority of US water supplies using the rationale that it helps prevent dental cavities.

The archaic practice continues even though it is now widely recognized that fluoride’s only justifiable benefit comes from topical contact with teeth – and even that is debatable.

To put it simply, there are FAR better options for decreasing tooth decay than ingesting a harmful industrial pollutant or using a topical poison like fluoride… in fact, new research suggests even chocolate extract would would make a better alternative.

Chocolate Toothpaste Works Better Than Fluoride

A recent study presented at the American Dental Association (ADA) 2013 Annual Session pitted fluoride toothpaste against a new toothpaste that contains the naturally-occurring cacao extract theobromine.

This test determined which product better repaired and re-mineralized exposed dentin (the tissue that makes up the bulk of your teeth below the enamel). Exposed dentin is a leading cause of tooth hypersensitivity.

The results showed that patients who brushed their teeth with the cacao-extract toothpaste twice a day for one week had “100 percent dental occlusion” with their tooth dentin becoming re-mineralized or repaired. According to a press release:

“The comparison to toothpastes containing fluoride - one as much as 5,000 ppm [parts per million] - validates what our research has shown all along: that Rennou [the cocoa extract] … is more effective and safer than fluoride, which can be toxic if ingested."

Past research has also shown that the chocolate ingredient theobromine works better than fluoride. When lesions in artificial enamel were treated with theobromine, remineralization occurred at a greater rate than when they were treated with fluoride.2 The study found, in fact, that theobromine made teeth less vulnerable to bacterial acid erosion that could lead to cavities.3

Scientists Now Questioning Whether Fluoride Works to Fight Cavities

With potential alternatives like theobromine, which, unlike fluoride, are not harmful when swallowed, it’s unfortunate that fluoride can still be found in a vast assortment of toothpastes, mouthwashes and professionally applied fluoride treatments. It's even added to your drinking water for this purpose, as mentioned.

Yet fluoride, long heralded as the answer to decaying teeth, is receiving increasing scrutiny – and for good reason.

A groundbreaking study published in the journal Langmuir uncovered that the fluorapatite layer formed on your teeth from fluoride is a mere six nanometers thick. To understand just how thin this is, you'd need 10,000 of these layers to get the width of a strand of your hair!

Scientists now question whether this ultra-thin layer can actually protect your enamel and provide any discernible benefit, considering the fact that it is quickly eliminated by simple chewing. They wrote:

“ …it has to be asked whether such narrow… layers really can act as protective layers for the enamel.”

Continue reading at Mercola.com

Here is a good video on some of the dangers of fluoride: