Does topical fluoride really protect tooth enamel? Study suggests NO

(NaturalNews) A popular mantra in American dentistry claims that topical fluoride treatments help to protect teeth from cavities by forming a protective shield on the enamel of teeth. However, a new study published in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal Langmuir has found that the “protective layer” created by fluoride is actually 100 times thinner than previously believed, which may render it practically useless as a cavity-preventing intervention.

Frank Muller, PhD, and his colleagues from Saarland University in Germany discovered that the fluorapatite layer formed by fluoride on teeth is only six nanometers thick. To put this into perspective, the width of an average human hair is roughly 10,000 layers thick. So everyday activities like chewing food, say scientists, are enough to disintegrate this thin fluoride layer in a matter of seconds.

The finding, which researchers say still needs to be validated by follow-up studies, challenges decades of thought concerning the supposed protective benefits of fluoride on teeth. It also adds to the growing body of evidence showing that fluoride is both useless as a teeth protector and a detriment to public health.