In cleaning teeth each morning, a certain amount of the toothpaste is swallowed by everyone. That is not good, especially for the young. This fact was pointed out by the director of the National Poison Centre at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Professor Dzulkifli Abdul Razak on Sunday. He referred to two studies published in two academic journals. The Journal of the American Dental Association and the Journal of Public Health Dentistry have both singled out, according to the professor, toothpaste ingestion as the main factor in fluorosis, especially in children.
Dental fluorosis is a cosmetic defect that causes the staining of teeth.
An eventuality no one desires. Given this potential danger of fluoride, it is rather odd that the Ministry of Health has not acted beyond delivering pontifications. In January last year, the Health Minister, Datuk Chua Jui Meng, announced that fluoride toothpaste makers risked a fine under the Drug Control Act, if they failed to label advisory health messages on their products. Moreover, the Ministry's Drug Control Authority had, on Feb 26 last year, recommended that labels for fluoride toothpaste advise users not to swallow the paste when cleaning the teeth. More than 13 months have passed.