Forgetting your flouride?
Bottled water – emblematic of fitness today.

It conjures up visions of nature’s finest being bottled at the very side of a spring or waterfall somewhere in Switzerland, just overflowing with all the nutrients we were intended to rely on for good health.

Well, forget it.

One important element is missing and you won’t find it in any bottled water, whether you’re paying for Evian or Poland Spring Water.

“There’s no fluoride in bottled water,” says Dr. Steve Gustafson, of Gustafson and Morningstar, D.D.S. in Royal Oak. “There’s a definite correlation between fluoride and the significant reduction in tooth decay for children and adults.”

Fluoridation of water began Jan. 25, 1945 in Grand Rapids and Muskegon, Michigan. Dentists in increasing numbers had been noticing that in some wells that were dug very deep, the element fluorine was found in the water to varying degrees. Children who had been drinking water from these wells had brownish spots, at the time called “mottled” or “fluorous” on their teeth, but dentists noticed they weren’t getting any cavities.

Today, drinking water contains about 1 part per million of fluoride, which is enough to protect teeth against “caries,” the word dentists use for cavities. Within 16-18 months after fluoridation began, dentists noticed a 50 percent to 70 percent reduction in caries, particularly in children.

“Does it hurt you to drink bottled water? No, if you hold it to a couple bottles a day and don’t rely on it as your only source of water,” Dr. Steve says. “But occasionally people take it a bit too far. I have patients who say they never give their children tap water. In those cases, we prescribe fluoride supplements and topical fluoride treatments.”

In patients who seem to all of a sudden have a considerable increase in caries from one visit to the next, Dr. Steve said he often walks them through their lifestyle to find out what may have changed.

“I start out by asking if they’re still brushing their teeth, and then ask how many times per day. Then we get into their diet. Most people don’t realize a small thing can often make a dramatic change. One patient had a much higher incidence of caries just because he’d started drinking one bottle of sweetened ice tea at work during the day and the sweetener was ruining his teeth.

“I usually get around to asking about their lifestyles and whether they exercise, how much, and if they drink a lot of bottled water, which means you’re not likely to still drink the same amount of tap water. It’s not at all unlike playing detective – I just keep asking questions until we find the answer.”

Dr. Steve says that besides children, young adults between the ages of 18 and 21 are prime targets for messing up what may have been a cavity free mouth.

“They’re out on their own for the first time, and they’re in charge of everything, including their own diet, which often turns to garbage,” Dr. Steve said. “They start drinking a lot more pop, eating a lot more candy – there’s not a campus around where kids aren’t walking around without bottled water – and they’re forgetting one thing: The body has no natural defense against cavities.”