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History: Toothpaste see also: Historic Articles/Toothpaste Currently, most fluoride toothpastes either contain sodium fluoride or monofluorophospate (MFP), although organic fluoride compounds are also used in some countries (BDA, 2002). For this article, we shall look at sodium fluoride (NaF-). (More historic information regarding MFP can be found on Peter Meiers’ excellent site [LINK], and the PFPC Science Site [LINK], for thyroid info.) ======= The first patent for sodium fluoride in toothpaste was filed in 1929 and issued in 1934 to Roy Cross (1). Shortly thereafter (1937), the Council on Dental Therapeutics - concerned that toxic agents were being used in toothpaste - reviewed the patent's claims, and concluded that the inclusion of fluoride in dentifrice was “unscientific and irrational”, and therefore should not be permitted. The Council stated that claims were based on false premises and warned that “uncontrolled usage of the product by the laity might still result in undesirable systemic reactions, especially in children.” (2) In spite of the warnings, first tests with sodium fluoride in toothpaste were performed by Basil Glover Bibby at Tufts College Dental School, Boston, Massachusetts (3). In only ONE of FIVE well-conducted studies did Bibby find any evidence of caries reduction (temporary 23 percent) (4). The other studies showed a disturbing increase in caries (5). As Proctor & Gamble’s Dr. Radike writes in a 1956 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) (5):
Regardless of these disturbing findings, it was the ONE “positive study” which allegedly prompted Procter and Gamble (P&G) "to offer financial support for our clinical studies, which until that time had been supported only to the extent of free dentifrices" (6). P & G directed their grants to Muhler and others, at Indiana University, who subsequently announced the filing of patent applications in the U. S. and 16 other countries to cover the use of a newly developed stannous fluoride [tin fluoride] formula in the manufacture of toothpaste to be marketed by P & G. The licensing contract of P & G with Muhler and Co.’s "Indiana University Foundation" provided for the payment of royalties to the Foundation which expected to receive $50,000 a year from the new commercial toothpaste (7). The Proctor & Gamble Staff took special care to point out Bibby’s negative findings with sodium fluoride (8), which they claimed did not apply to their own patented “stannous fluoride”... A further “topical” clinical trial by Bibby in Rochester had to be abandoned in 1955 - in its third and critical year - after dentifrice manufacturers had send free samples of fluoride toothpastes to every household, rendering the control group and tests invalid. The Bibby-led Eastman Dental Dispensary had been painting the teeth of some 650 school children to check the topical effectiveness of varying methods of fluoride application (9). Regardless of the above findings, and in spite of the fact that the American Dental Association (ADA) itself had declared the sale of fluoride dentifrice “premature” in 1956 (10) and even testified against "reckless dentifrice advertising" in hearings in 1958 (11), the association surprisingly gave its first “Seal of Approval” to Crest with Fluoristan (the stannous fluoride) in 1960. No “benefits” of stannous fluoride are known. Topical or otherwise. On the other hand, the tooth-staining effects of stannous fluoride are rather well known! When Riep recently investigated effects of mouthrinse containing stannous fluoride (14) in children, he found no significant benefit on caries development. When Sjostrom & Kalfas (15) investigated periodontal tisue after stannous fluoride irrigation, they found extensive periodontal tissue necrosis and permanent loss of alveolar bone. see: Newsletter #9 REFERENCES 1) Cross R - "Dental preparation" US Patent 1,943,856 (1929/1934) 2) Council on Dental Therapeutics (1937) - "Toxic Potentialities of a Fluoride Dentifrice” JADA 24:307-9 (1937) 3) J dent Res 24:297 (1945) 4) Bibby and Brudevold, in J. H. Shaw: "Fluoridation as a public health measure", AAAS pp. 158-161(1954) 5) Bibby/Radike JADA 52:243-4 (1956) 6) Bibby - JADA 52:755 (1956) 7) JADA 52: 240-1 (1956) 8) JADA 51:556 (Nov. 1955); JADA 52:243-44 (1956) 9) JADA 53:57 (1956) 10) JADA 52:368 (1956) 11) JADA 57: 260, 430, 543, 546, and 745 (1958) 12) Austr Dent J 38:64 (1993) 13) British Dental Association http://www.bda-dentistry.org.uk/pdfs/flouride.pdf 14) Riep BG, Bernimoulin JP, Barnett ML - "Comparative antiplaque effectiveness of an essential oil and an amine fluoride/stannous fluoride mouthrinse." J Clin Periodontol 26(3):164-8 (1999) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query? uid=10100042&form=6&db=m&Dopt=r 15) Sjostrom S, Kalfas S - “Tissue necrosis after subgingival irrigation with fluoride solution” J Clin Periodontol 26(4):257-60 (1999)
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