Fluoride is not one of my favorite ways to improve bone density or decrease cavities, as you may realize if you read my last article about the toxic risks of fluoride and its connection to a higher risk of bone cancer.

When I last wrote about the bone cancer link, it was a bit tricky to find a copy of the study, since the proof was contained in a then-unpublished dissertation. However, Dr. Bassin's findings finally became public not long ago, and have caused a bit of an uproar.

Of course, her former advisor didn't particularly want her findings to come out -- he's being paid to have a different opinion. Not only is he the editor of a dental newsletter for Colgate, but the NIH, which funded his study, is a leading promoter of water fluoridation, and has been so since the first government endorsement of fluoridation in 1950.

Never doubt that money influences results. For example, surveys of the medical literature have consistently shown that studies paid for by drug companies are more likely than those with other sponsors to show results favorable to the product tested.

And there certainly seem to be those who think Dr. Douglass' behavior is suspicious enough to warrant an investigation. Interestingly, in a commentary Douglass wrote for the journal in which Bassin's article appeared, he now admits that he looked at the data she used and did find "some" effect of fluoride increasing osteosarcoma risk.  This contradicts his previous statements that he had not found any effect.

There may be a justification to use fluoride topically to limit the spread of cavities but there is no question that it should never be used systemically in water. The problem with using it "topically" is that invariably some of it is absorbed into the body where it can only cause harm.