As I was getting my teeth cleaned by my very competent and friendly Marissa, I told my hygeinist that after a cleaning I'm never hungry for at least two hours, prompting her to explain that flouride can cause nausea.
"Are you grossed out by cleaning people's teeth?" I asked her.
"Only the extreme cases," she said. She then started giving me some horrendous case studies, too gross to mention here. I'll just give you one example. One of her patients, a man in his fifties, has 10mm deep periodontal pockets full of year-old beef jerkey. His gums are so diseased, Marissa explained, he's in danger of blood poisoning, even heart disease.
Most of these mouth diseased patients, Marissa pointed out, have diabetes 2, and do nothing to change their diet or lifestyle to combat their condition. They're content being walking corpses, I guess.
I noticed during the final phase of my cleaning, the flouride polish, the gritty flouride substance was more disgusting than usual and I was nauseous for several hours afterwards, wondering if I was catching a virus.
But I woke up this morning feeling fine. I think the beef jerkey story pushed me over the edge.
That kind of perception sensitivity pays off when it comes to subtlety of taste, though; you might have to get into coffee drinks or craft beer now..
Posted by: StarHalo | August 10, 2013 at 09:40 AM
Mind over matter, methinks.
Posted by: Ed | August 10, 2013 at 09:56 AM
Floride is for children. I don't think floride treatment is needed for most adults. There can be adverse side effects of any medical treatment and if its causing you nausea I would not be surprised if its actually harming you. The incentives of a dental pratice are not aligned with your best interests so I would be skeptical of accepting the scare tactics at face value.
Posted by: A. Black | August 10, 2013 at 01:29 PM
A. Black makes a good point. My wife's father was a dentist. He said the profession has changed----when he practiced, it was about keeping teeth healthy (preventative) and fixing cavities. Every once in a while, something more serious would arise----and he'd refer patients to an oral surgeon. Now----dentists are into "beautifying your $mile," and they tend to "find" issues that they can fix with a few vi$it$. For some dentists, it's become a challenge to find issues with patients----not for the health of the patient or the health of their teeth, but for another profit center, another cash cow. Be very careful, especially if you are trying a new dentist.
Posted by: Angelo | August 11, 2013 at 11:47 AM
The MDSA (material safety data sheet) for fluoride tooth polish does indicate nausea or worse.
http://www.henryschein.ca/MSDS/1055004.pdf
Posted by: M Peraaho | August 12, 2013 at 07:12 PM