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Medical freedom vs. public health: Should fluoride be in our drinking water? (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

328 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Misinformation campaigns increasingly target the cavity-fighting mineral, prompting communities to reverse mandates. Dentists are enraged. Parents are caught in the middle.

The culture wars have a new target: your teeth.

Communities across the U.S. are ending public water fluoridation programs, often spurred by groups that insist that people should decide whether they want the mineral — long proven to fight cavities — added to their water supplies.

The push to flush it from water systems seems to be increasingly fueled by pandemic-related mistrust of government oversteps and misleading claims, experts say, that fluoride is harmful.

“The anti-fluoridation movement gained steam with Covid,” said Dr. Meg Lochary, a pediatric dentist in Union County, North Carolina. “We’ve seen an increase of people who either don’t want fluoride or are skeptical about it.”

There should be no question about the dental benefits of fluoride, Lochary and other experts say. Major public health groups, including the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, support the use of fluoridated water. All cite studies that show it reduces tooth decay by 25%.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Hey how come the government gets to put water in my pipes at all? There my pipes! True freedom is them being completely empty.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (5 children)

I'm sure this has already been asked. I'm too lazy to read all comments. Um, why would the dentists be mad? Are they not all in it for the money?

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

This comes up in Portland periodically as we are one of the few places that DOESN'T fluoridate water.

When you do the research on it, you find some fascinating things:

Applying fluoride topically through toothpaste or mouthwash unequivocably works wonders for tooth decay.

There is no evidence drinking it as part of the water supply does ANYTHING. Positive or negative.

You have to understand one big thing... The first municipality to add fluoride to water did so in 1945.

The first fluoridated toothpaste wouldn't hit the market until 1955, 10 years later (thanks Crest!)

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/second-thoughts-on-fluoride/

So when you look at studies trying to determine if drinking water as a source is effective, you need to immediately ignore any study done before the introduction of fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

I'm a sane libertarian (I promise some of us do exisit). People absolutely have a right to determine what goes in to their body, but fluoride is such a weird hill to die on. In particular when fortified grains are a mandate of the same ilk. All of this has a history, and shocker, it was always steeped in the same "but our culture" wrapping...

Edit: tl;Dr if you don't want to watch the video: and pellagra was proven to be one of those diseases that is zero problem... So long as your diet doesn't suck. The science had push back because it upset the economics. We're fighting the same battles now we were then.

Edit2: yes. I'm a libertarian, because as much as they're freaking nuts it still stems from a disagreement of a stated principle. A principle which had them back a ton of LGBTQ rights before anyone else. I'm voting Biden in 2024, strictly because I'd like to vote in 2028, but godamn this is how 2016 happened.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=reYKBgdrZsM&pp=ygUWUGVsbGFncmEgZXh0cmEgaGlzdG90eQ%3D%3D

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[–] [email protected] -4 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Ok so seems clear to me there's no real harm, but is there alleged benefit for adults? I've never had to rely on a municipal well so as a kid I had fluoride treatments and used fluoridated paste, but always thought it was just for kids. Is there benefit for me as a 40yo (with no cavities if it matters)?

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