subject: How Can Water Affect Your Teeth And Health? [print this page] According to a study done in the New York Times about 20% of the nation's drinking water is contaminated. The study also shows that drinking that contaminated water may lead to serious tooth decay problems as well as other complications.
Not only is the drinking water unsafe, many provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act have been violated causing other problems as well.
In this act communities are required to provide clean drinking water for all Americans, but reports say that since 2004, 49 million people have been drinking contaminated water. Some have even been exposed to arsenic, uranium and harmful bacteria found in sewage.
Drinking this contaminated water can bring not only illness and sickness to your family and yourself but can cause extreme tooth decay.
A mother interviewed on the Dr. Oz show and talked about extreme water contamination in her area and what it was doing to her and her children's teeth. She said by the time her son was about ten he had about as many caps on his teeth from extreme tooth decay and cavities.
Not only that, her brother died from a brain tumor from the water, and being a concerned mother, she went around to neighbors and found that 6 other people within a ten mile radius also had tumors of some sort.
So what can you do to keep your teeth, mouth, and body safe from these water contaminants? First of all, it is important to have your water tested. After it is tested and found to be contaminated, the best idea is to buy a water filtration system.
It may seem expensive but the mother that interviewed on the Dr. Oz show said that when her family started filtering their water, and even rinsing their mouth in only clean filtered water, their cavities and tooth decay cleared up significantly.
If you have been having problems with tooth decay or cavities this might be something important for you to look into. Many community water systems have been flagged for contaminated water, whether it be from waste, or illegal dumping, but many of these same water systems have not been fined or shut down.
It is important to get your water checked for contaminants and if they are found to report them to your local government. If your local city government does not agree to clean up the water supply to keep your family safe, you should consider taking the matter to higher authorities.
One good thing about drinking tap water however, is the fact that it may reduce cavities if it is not contaminated. Bottled water on average contains only 0.3 parts per million with the optimal level being 0.7-1.2 parts per million
Because of the smaller concentration of fluoride, bottled water is said to have less cavity fighting properties and may actually be bad for your teeth.
If the alternative however, is drinking from a contaminated water source, bottled water or buying a filtration system is the better alternative. When you fix your contaminated water source, the health of your teeth is almost guaranteed to improve.
