Fluoride Toothpaste 1914 – Healthier Teeth

The ancient Greeks, Romans, Chinese and Indians used toothpastes containing various abrasive materials, from ox hooves to burnt eggshells. Mixtures prepared in 19th-century England contained lime, crushed brick, salt and burnt bread. In 1892, the British physician James Crichton-Browne noted that diets deficient in fluoride (compounds containing the element fluorine) caused teeth to become “highly susceptible” to decay. The first patent for fluoride toothpaste was obtained in 1914.

When sugar is consumed, bacteria on the teeth can produce an acidic environment and erode tooth enamel. Fluoride reduces the rate of erosion (increases the rate of remineralization) and forms a fluoride varnish that is more resistant to acid than the original enamel.

Fluoridation of water supplies in the United States can be traced to the American dentist Frederick McKay's observation in Colorado in 1901 that many patients had teeth with white or brown spots. Whatever caused this unusual effect, McKay observed that people with “Colorado Brown Stain” (now known as fluorosis) had almost no cavities. After years of research, McKay showed that naturally occurring fluoride concentrations in drinking water were effective in preventing these cavities. 

The American dental researcher H. Trendley Dean and his colleagues began adding fluoride to water in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1945. Other countries conducting similar studies also saw a significant reduction in cavities. Drinking-water fluoridation became official United States policy in 1951. 

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, water fluoridation is one of the 20th century's “ten great public-health achievements”. However, some people consider fluoridation unethical, arguing that it is a medical treatment administered without consent. In the 1950s, some conspiracy theorists in the United States claimed that fluoride use was a communist plot to make American citizens ill.

About the Article Image: Advertisements featuring smiling children for Crest, the first fluoride toothpaste, in the 1950s.

Historical Figures Mentioned in the Article: James Crichton-Browne (1840–1938), Frederick S. McKay (1874– 1959), Henry Trendley Dean (1893–1962)

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