fluoride or not

[motheringforme]

I can't make up my mind about a toothpaste. The main debate in my head is whether or not to get one with fluoride. I drink filtered water, and I'm not swallowing the toothpaste, so I was thinking fluoride. I know its not recommended in the health circles, but I'm still so confused.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Is your filter specifically designed to filter OUT the flouride? or is it just a britta (or similar?)

[motheringforme]

It's a Pur filter.

[pampered_mom]

I don't believe the PUR filter (which is basically the same as a Brita I believe) filters our fluoride. We skip the fluoride toothpaste because we don't have a water filter that takes out the fluoride. I wish it were the other way around...that we used fluoride toothpaste and drank non-fluoridated water as I think that's a far better application of the fluoride.

[motheringforme]

Well, darn. I just looked it up on the Pur site, and it doesn't filter the fluoride. I thought it was! Are their any filters that do that aren't overly expensive?

[sunnysandiegan]

We have a reverse osmosis water filtration system. Ours is older, so I don't know the exact specs. The one I found online that looks similar to ours removes 87% of fluoride in the water. Until very recently, and it may have been successfully stopped, our water wasn't fluoridated anyway.

We purchased it shortly after buying our house in the summer of 2000. It cost us ~ $300, so that is roughly $30 a year now. Which is about $2.50 per month or $0.58 per week or $0.08 per day.* We would take it with us if we were to sell and move. It works really well still!

* These figures are just the initial cost of the system. We installed it ourselves, which was very easy. We have purchased approximately 4 of the two-pack low cost filters and 3 of the more expensive filters over this timeframe. They last a lot longer than we were led to believe!

As far as fluoride toothpaste is concerned, I don't usually buy it. I have in the past when Tom's of Maine switched the types they sold in the store where I purchased it. I didn't realize it at first. We finished those off and didn't worry about it, but I specifically look for fluoride-free toothpastes. All three of us have good, healthy teeth. DD is 9 and has zero cavities. She has never had fluoride on a regular basis.

[rnasmomma]

We replaced our pitcher filter with a Crystal Quest filter. Although we bought it on eBay, it is from www.qualitywaterfilters4you.com.
After researching filters, this seemed to be an excellent filter for a decent price. It doesn't have a tank like the RO undersink models, so it doesn't take up a lot of space either. We have pretty yucky municipal water (tons of chlorine/fluoride, etc.) and this makes the water taste like nothing--perfect.

[Americanmom]

I started searching for bottled water without fluoride and had no success. I figured I'd have better luck with a filter so I've been searching high and low for a filter that actually removes fluoride.  I read an article that said most of the filters don't actually remove the fluoride unless it's distilled water.  Is this true?  Here's the article http://fullspike.com/nutrictionary/water/bottled-water-without-fluoride.asp

I'd like to find a good filter that removes the fluoride, as well as a fluoride free bottled water.

Any thoughts?