I did not realize that flouride is simply toxic to humans. I had a dental cleaning yesterday & did one of the pharmaceautical grade rinses at the end of the cleaning & when I threw back the shot, part of it went down my throat! Oops! As I was leaving the office I was feeling a bit nauseated & mentioned it to the hygenist & she said to drink some milk & I should feel better. Well, within a few minutes my sinuses completely blocked & I started feeling really weird. I blew my nose & the snot was clear with blood streaks. I started feeling really bad & pulled over to the side of the road & projectile vomited clear liquid & my salivary glands were working overtime! (If I could only make that happen all the time) I called the dentist & they said that slight nausea happens sometimes... I pulled myself together & drove on to work, but didnt make it another 10 minutes before violently projectile vomiting clear green liquid! I felt really awful.

So... I thought I was just having an allergic reaction or something because it reminded me so much of what happened years ago when I tried to take Amofostine during radiation treatment.

Bottom line here is, I went home, ate some food, laid on the couch & started searching the web for info about flouride. I had all the textbook symptoms of ingesting flouride on an empty stomach!!!

Just be careful. I had no idea how toxic flouride is. We think, or at least I assumed it's this benign safe substance that is beneficial to our dental health, however it is being rethought in the worldwide medical/dental community as far as how safe it really is for humans at all. And I am not a conspiracy therist.

Today I feel much better, just a little shaken that I was literally poisoned yesterday. I don't blame my dentist, but they should be much more dilligent about stressing to not swallow any of that rinse!

I wish health & especially happiness to all...

Erik Kleiva

Erik, I'm so sorry you got so sick after leaving the Dentist Office. My biggest fear is vomiting (I have not since TX), but anyway I have known for a long time how toxic flouride is & can be. & yet it is everywhere! My dentist (before TX) wanted me to get $300 flouride trays to use everyday. As if dealing w/cancer was not enough, lets get the toxins from the flouride thrown in the mix! Years ago I read a book from Kevin Trudeau "What the Drug Co. Doesn't Want You To Know About" Bottom line..if it's good or bad for you, that doesn't really matter as long as $$$$$ is to be made. On the flip side, if it wasn't for all the meds my Dad was taking, we would have lost him years earlier. I don't want to start any war here about perscription drugs! Modern medicine is what got me thru TX ! But thank Goddness with the World Wide Web, we have all kinds of info @ our fingertips! We need to do our homework, and like anything else there is always good & bad. Now that that is behind you (& out of you) may your day be beautiful!

Diane and others,

I began using my daily fluoride trays 1 month pre radiation and used them throughout Tx except for a few horrible days and have used them every night since and I'm coming up on 4 years and I have never thrown up because of this use. IMO the benefits of a oral radiation patient using the daily fluoride trays FAR FAR FAR out weights the concerns you raise.

I do not have the trays. I have the toothpaste that you can not rinse out, but you have to spit out any excess stuff.

I have been using the flouride trays every day, but I am very careful to spit it out when I am finished. I trust my dentist, and I would like to keep my teeth!

I hope you keep those pearly whites as life is bad without them. 2 1/2 years without and no dentures allowed. Damn that is fun.

Ah, I don't want to start a war but.... Famous last words.
Although I don't think flouride trays are going to inspire quite the same passion as PEGs. I confess to an age bias as I loved the 1964 cold war black comedy spoof movie Dr. Stangelove. (plot below for younger posters)
[quote]US Air Force General Jack D. Ripper plans to start a nuclear war with the Soviet Union to stop what he believes to be a fearful Communist conspiracy to put fluoride in the water supply, by his reasoning, thereby threatening the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people.[/quote]
The toxicity of flouride is beyond question, but then so is the toxicity of the radiation most of us owe our lives to.
The amount in a tooth tray from a flouride gel does not pose any real danger, IMO. Of course, I trust my prothodontist, who has been able to keep all my teeth intact.
Tooth decay is a proven risk after radiation and flouride applications reduce that risk substantially.
I agree wholeheartedly with the subject line advice of this thread: Don't swallow liquid flouride rinse at dentist. I would expand it to say: Don't swallow your flouride gel from your tooth trays either. It's supposed to be a topical application not an internal one. Just like you would never eat or swallow antibiotic cream instead of taking an antibiotic pill
Here is a pretty universal summary of why and how to use your flouride trays
[quote] Fluoride Tray Method: Head and neck radiation patients are at a lifelong risk for tooth decay due to the reduction in their saliva and an increase in decay causing bacteria. Fortunately, using fluoride once a day can prevent this rampant decay. It will be necessary to not only use the fluoride trays during treatment but also for the rest of your life. You will need to have individualized custom made trays made by your dentist for your mouth. Your dentist will prescribe a fluoride gel, such as 0.4% stannous fluoride gel or a 1.1% neutral sodium fluoride gel preferably unflavored.

First floss and brush your teeth. Rinse and dry your fluoride trays and place a thin ribbon of fluoride gel covering the bottom of the trays. Dry your teeth with gauze or a soft cloth. Insert the trays and bite down holding the trays between your teeth for 5-10 minutes. The fluoride gel must cover the gumline as that is where you will be susceptible to decay. Many patients do this while showering or bathing to save time. After 5-10 minutes, remove the trays and spit out the fluoride.

Do not swallow the fluoride or rinse the fluoride out with water. You may wipe off the excess fluoride with a dry cloth or gauze. Do not eat or drink anything for 30 minutes. Always clean the trays after the fluoride treatment and put them in a clean container. [/quote]
Charm

Is there flouride in drinking water in the US?? More than two thirds of Australia's population receive flouridated drinking water.

Karen

Karen

Yes, the majority of large American cities use flouride and the figures I've seen indicate about 62 percent of all US population has flouride in their water. There are web sites out there that would do Jack D. Ripper proud but most metropolitan areas do put flouride into the city water.
charm

Thank You for all the great info. Here I thought I was out of the woods! I did not know that the threat of loosing teeth would be a life long hazard! Well doesn't that just make my day? So instead of worring about purchasing the New Crest 3D Whitestrips..I should be more focused on trying to keep the teeth so I have something to stick the strips onto!!!

Systemic flouride (the type given to children while their teeth are forming) is different than the topical type. After the crowns of the teeth (covered with enamel) are fully formed, systemic fluoride has no benefit.

There are many OCF members like Charm, who will attest to the fact that they have all or most of their teeth, due to daily use of flouride applications.

Almost anything taken in excess can be toxic. Used judiciously, the benefits of topical fluoride is safe and effective.