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

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15159248

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%.

  • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    7 months ago

    You can’t fix stupid. At least, they haven’t found a mineral yet that does. And if they did, be sure that people wouldn’t want it added to their water. I find it hilarious that people reject something that is 100% beneficial to their health, but are ok with the levels of chlorine in the drinking water.

    • TVgog56789@lemy.lolOPMEnglish
      21·
      7 months ago

      Small amount of flouride in your mouth wash and toothpaste can prevent tooth decay.

      However drinking flouridated water can interfere with ion channels in the nerve cells imparing brain and muscle function.

      https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12640-009-9139-5

      Adding flouride in water is a bad idea because you don’t just wash your teeth you also drink it.

      • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        7 months ago

        It seems that article is considered biased and having a low-level of evidence (#50).

        https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK552755/

        It seems that lower doses of fluoride (< 4ppm) is considered safe. But I’m not a scientist, nor have I read either source in their entirety (let alone comprehended them). So take that with a grain of salt.

        I do appreciate your contribution to the conversation. So thank you for that rabbit hole. 😊

        • TVgog56789@lemy.lolOPMEnglish
          2·
          6 months ago

          Sorry for the late reply.

          I don’t think there should be any fluoride added in the water we drink.

          Because fluoride is not a nutrient the body needs. You can search yourself. It’s not a cofactor in any biomolecule.

          Beyond teeth it has no purpose.

          Yes even a low dose of Fluoride can harm the brain.

          Fluoride free radicals are at least 200X more reactive than oxygen free radicals and our body doesn’t have dedicated anti-oxidants to deal with them.

          And guess what Nerve cells are the most vulnerable to oxidative stress.

          So no amount of added fluoride is justified in water supply.

          Any scientist who is telling otherwise is sold out by water companies who were sued by People for adding fluoride.

          You can check the statistics too. Learning disabilities among children have increased where fluoride is added to water.