Fluoride is a mineral. It’s current in practically all our bodies of water, all around the globe. Water is known as “fluoridated” when a public water system adjusts the quantity of fluoride so that there’s simply sufficient to stop tooth decay. About 75% of Individuals whose houses are related to public water techniques obtain fluoridated water simply by turning on the faucet.
We all know that adjusting the quantity of fluoride in our water techniques to the perfect degree reduces cavities by strengthening enamel. Group water fluoridation is a crucial public well being measure as a result of sturdy, wholesome enamel are an necessary a part of a wholesome life. 
However the place does fluoride come from?
Fluoride is derived from pure calcium deposits in phosphate rock after which purified. These supplies are additionally used to create various different merchandise, akin to cosmetics, ceramics, animal meals, and soil fertilizer, that folks use every single day. All through our lives, we ingest and profit from minerals like iron and calcium which have many different makes use of.
You will note claims that the fluoride in our water is a “byproduct” or a “waste product” of fertilizer manufacturing. Sounds scary, proper? Not when you might have the information. A byproduct is just the extra or secondary output of a given course of. Take into consideration corn. Ethanol is a byproduct of corn in the identical manner that fluoride is a byproduct of the stone that’s processed for this and different functions. Waste, alternatively, is materials that has no helpful goal in any respect. Properly, that’s clearly not true for fluoride! Utilizing it in water protects the oral well being of tons of of thousands and thousands of individuals every single day. Group water fluoridation, launched greater than 80 years in the past, is as American as recent corn on the cob.
