The politics of water fluoridation
When I was growing up, fluoridation of water was regarded as a commie plot by the John Birch Society wingnuts. Nevertheless, hundreds of millions of Americans (including my wife and I) have lived with fluoridated water without evidence of harm. I see where RFK, Jr is predicting that the second Trump Administration will recommend against water fluoridation. In a society where many city water supplies are fluoridated and fluoridated toothpaste is widely available, the benefits of putting fluoride in the water are less obvious than they were 70 years ago and are thus being forgotten.
Yes, I understand that too much fluoride can kill you. So can too much water. As any pharmacologist will tell you, the dose makes the poison. Artificial fluoridation of water wasn’t some nefarious plot. In places where natural fluoride levels were high, the frequency of dental caries was lower. There’s plenty of epidemiological evidence that artificial fluoridation also results in fewer dental caries. Within the statutory limits, the evidence for harm from artificial fluoridation is tenuous at best.
However, unlike measles, mumps, chicken pox and COVID, dental caries are not contagious. Thus, unlike anti-vaxxers, anti-water fluoridation folks only harm themselves and their children if they refuse to consume fluoridated water or use fluoridated toothpaste. If they impose their views on whole communities, they do deprive others of the benefits they refuse to acknowledge.
Click the link if you want to read the history of how the connection between water fluoridation and tooth enamel was made.
The story of fluoridation
Yes, I understand that too much fluoride can kill you. So can too much water. As any pharmacologist will tell you, the dose makes the poison. Artificial fluoridation of water wasn’t some nefarious plot. In places where natural fluoride levels were high, the frequency of dental caries was lower. There’s plenty of epidemiological evidence that artificial fluoridation also results in fewer dental caries. Within the statutory limits, the evidence for harm from artificial fluoridation is tenuous at best.
However, unlike measles, mumps, chicken pox and COVID, dental caries are not contagious. Thus, unlike anti-vaxxers, anti-water fluoridation folks only harm themselves and their children if they refuse to consume fluoridated water or use fluoridated toothpaste. If they impose their views on whole communities, they do deprive others of the benefits they refuse to acknowledge.
Click the link if you want to read the history of how the connection between water fluoridation and tooth enamel was made.
The story of fluoridation
But your precious bodily fluids!
@Jack,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI7sLkPuKwg
Kevin Drum posted on this: https://jabberwocking.com/is-fluoridated-water-safe/
My comment:
Went a Googling because I have this memory of living in an area with naturally fluorinated water till I was 10 years old.
“Of the approximately 10 million people with naturally fluoridated public water supplies in 1992, approximately 67% had fluoride concentrations ≤ 1.2 mg/L (CDC 1993; see Appendix B). Approximately 14% had fluoride concentrations between 1.3 and 1.9 mg/L and another 14% had between 2.0 and 3.9 mg/L; 2% (just over 200,000 persons) had natural fluoride concentrations equal to or exceeding 4.0 mg/L.2 Water supplies that exceeded 4.0 mg/L ranged as high as 11.2 mg/L in Colorado, 12.0 mg/L in Oklahoma, 13.0 mg/L in New Mexico, and 15.9 mg/L in Idaho (see Appendix B, Table B-3).3 States with the largest populations receiving water supplies with fluoride at ≥ 4.0 mg/L included Virginia (18,726 persons, up to 6.3 mg/L), Oklahoma (18,895 persons, up to 12.0 mg/L), Texas (36,863 persons, up to 8.8 mg/L), and South Carolina (105,618 persons, up to 5.9 mg/L).
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2006. Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11571.”
Seems there would be epidemiological data supporting the dangers of Fluoride.
When I was a kid, dentists treated people’s teeth with fluoride to prevent cavities. I think they still do.
@Jack,
I had fluoride treatment when I was a kid. It was pretty unpleasant, so quite memorable. Of course, we also had fluoridated water and fluoridated toothpaste.
People that generally object to fluoridation are found in the “New Age” movement. The claim is that fluoride degrades the natural functions of the pineal gland, which is alleged to play a key role in accessing other realms of experience, often described as higher dimensions or higher frequencies. This repression of function is said to occur at fluoride levels that do not show up as having toxic organic effects otherwise. Fluoridation of water (and other products) is a practice often attributed to sinister forces, such as reptilian beings and their human subordinates. The fictional Gen. Ripper in some ways parallels these believes. It does not appear that he is concerned as much with gross toxic organic effects as some “higher” order he refers to as purity. The sinister forces behind it are communists, but that was reference that resonated much better in the early 1960s than reptilians would have and furthered the plot of the movie. I can’t say I fully understand this, but I do think it involves hypothesized phenomena variously described as subtle energy, biofields, frequencies and the like. It was interesting to read here of the dreamer to dreamer communication, as this is the sort of experience that these hypothetical subtle energies are supposed be involved in.
While fluoride may or may not be good for your teeth (dental fluorosis), there’s no reason at all to be ingesting it into your precious bodily organs. Get the book called, “The Fluoride Deception” by Christopher Bryson. Fluoride reduces IQ. Many countries do not fluoridate, and their teeth are just as good or better than ours. DYOR. Fluoride is also an ingredient in rat poison.
@Ryan,
Fluoride is not only good for your dental health, there’s zero evidence that, in the concentrations found in naturally and artificially fluoridated water, it is harmful to any of your organs.
“Fluoride is also an ingredient in rat poison.”
LOL! So is warfarin, which is also used to preserve and extend the lives of people with clotting disorders. Chlorine is used in water treatment, in your children’s swimming pools and is in table salt, as well as being used in insecticides. Oxygen, the same potent chemical used in the strongest acids is what we allow our children to breathe and is in the water we drink.
Arsenic is found in commercial rices. Acrylamide, a neurotoxin, is found in baked goods. Grilled meats contain several known carcinogens. Too much water can kill you!
As any pharmacologist or toxicologist will tell you, the dose makes the poison.
I remember mottled teeth being the only drawback of too much fluoride in the water, as noted in the areas with natural fluoride in the water supply. If fluoride were harmful I would expect the areas with higher concentration could be identified by the statistical differences in medical conditions. Has anyone done that kind of analysis?
FWIW I was born in a city that fluoridated and never had a cavity as a child.
@Jane,
Epidemiological studies on populations with naturally and artificially fluoridated water at approved levels show no conclusive evidence of harm other than tooth discoloration.
@Jane,
“The data on regions that don’t practice fluoridation is mixed. Many developed countries don’t practice water fluoridation, including most of Europe — though some countries, like Germany and Switzerland, have alternative processes like fluoridated salt and fluoridated milk.
“Hawaii is the only state with no municipal-level fluoridation; — though the state ranks as one of the worst states for oral health in the nation. Other studies have suggested worsening tooth decay rates in municipalities that had fluoridation and later banned it, such as Juneau, Alaska.”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/05/metro/rfk-jr-trump-fluoride-drinking-water/