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Happy US Election Day to all who celebrate! Hopefully, we are merely hours away from history being made in the United States. (Fingers crossed!) At the very least, we’re hours away from the end of all of the annoying political calls, texts, and ads from this election cycle. As you know, Madam Vice President has surrounded herself with smart and competent people while The Former Guy has basically let all of the worst people run wild with disinformation and propaganda. He’s also promised people like Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. positions within his next administration.
As Kaiser talked about yesterday, RFK Jr. has said that under a Trump administration, the government would remove fluoride from America’s public water system. Why is there now an attack on fluoride? I truly have no idea other than that brain worm really did do some damage. Contrary to now popular MAGA belief, fluoride is not the public health enemy that they’d have you believe it is. Fluoride has actually long been considered good for public health because it’s a naturally occurring element found in water that also happens to help fight cavities. Yahoo has compiled a little ‘what to know” about fluoride:
What is fluoride? Fluoride is an element that’s naturally found in rivers, lakes and oceans, as well as in some foods and drinks, according to the American Dental Association (ADA). “It is also added to public water supplies,” Dr. Michael Kosdon, a dentist at Smiles of NYC, tells Yahoo Life. Fluoride is known as “nature’s cavity fighter,” according to the ADA, and it’s often added to dental products, including toothpaste, to protect teeth from cavities.
What does fluoride do? Fluoride helps to strengthen your teeth, Rebecca Henderson, associate professor in The Ohio State University College of Dentistry, tells Yahoo Life. “Teeth, like bones in our body, are composed of minerals —primarily calcium and phosphate.” When someone has cavities, bacteria feed on refined carbohydrates that you eat and produce an acid byproduct in your mouth, Henderson says. “This acid removes minerals from our teeth, breaking down layers of tooth structure and eventually leading to a hole or a cavity in the tooth surface. Fluoride helps to strengthen the tooth surfaces by returning and preserving the lost minerals in our tooth, preventing a cavity from forming.” Research has found that adding fluoride to water reduces the amount of tooth decay in young kids by 35%.
Can fluoride be harmful? Fluoride is beneficial, say experts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it’s considered “one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century” thanks to its ability to prevent tooth decay. However, too much fluoride can cause fluorosis, “which presents as white streaks or blotchy white patches on the enamel,” Kosdon says. “These chalky areas are known as decalcified enamel and [in severe cases] are much weaker and prone to cavities.”
Fluorosis is not harmful: In most cases, fluorosis is cosmetic and isn’t harmful to your health. According to Henderson, it’s more common when children use multiple sources of fluoride over a long period of time. That can include drinking water with fluoride, using and mistakenly swallowing fluoridated toothpaste and taking fluoride supplements. “Having knowledge of the fluoride level in your community water system and the other amounts of fluoride your child under age 8 is ingesting is the key to preventing dental fluorosis,” she says.
You’d have to drink a ton of fluoride to come close to toxic levels: There are claims online that fluoride is poisonous, but experts say that’s a stretch. Excessive amounts of fluoride can be harmful, but it’s rare and typically happens in young children. The ADA notes that you would have to drink five liters of water for every kilogram of body weight at once to have fluoride toxicity — which is a toxic amount of water. On a cosmetic level, it is nearly “impossible to drink enough water that contains fluoride to actually create any discoloration,” Dr. Mark S. Wolff, dean at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, tells Yahoo Life.
70 years of research: The ADA also says this about having fluoride in water: “Water fluoridation is safe, effective and healthy. Seventy years of research, thousands of studies and the experience of more than 210 million Americans tell us that water fluoridation is effective in preventing cavities and is safe for children and adults.”
Should anyone avoid fluoride? There are some populations who shouldn’t have fluoride. “I would definitely avoid fluoride in infants younger than six months,” Kosdon says. Using fluorinated water in baby formula may also increase the risk of mild fluorosis, according to the ADA. Kosdon adds that people with kidney disease may also need to avoid high levels of fluoride.
How to know if you’re getting the right amount of fluoride: Fluoride in community drinking water systems is regulated at the state and local level, Henderson says. If you drink water that’s not from a well, you’re getting at least some level of fluoride in your tap water. In fact, 75% of fluoride intake comes from drinking water with added fluoride and from food and beverages, such as sodas and fruit juice, made with fluoridated water, according to the CDC.
It’s beneficial for your teeth: “For adults and children over the age of two, drinking fluoridated tap water, along with following instructions for daily use of toothpaste with fluoride, creates the best chance for the tooth to be strong enough to prevent tooth decay,” Henderson says. “For children under the age of two, a doctor or dentist should be consulted on the use of fluoridated toothpaste.” (In general, typically, a toothpaste smear the size of a grain of rice for children less than 3 years old, and no more than a “pea-sized” amount of toothpaste is recommended for ages 3 and up.)
For the good of public health: If you’re unsure about your fluoride needs, it’s worth checking in with a dentist for personalized recommendations. However, experts stress that there’s no need to be scared of fluoride. “Public water fluoridation is seen as one of the leading public health measures, saving millions of dollars in dental care and decay and pain in people of all ages,” Wolff says.
All of this information mirrors what our pediatrician has told us since my older son was born. Sigh. Sometimes, it really does feel like we’re living in the dumbest timeline. I know it’s human nature to question things or be a contrarian, but it’s just insane that this is something that they’re coming for. Then again, why wouldn’t Republicans think that fluoride is bad when they don’t even understand how masks work or believe that climate change is real? I mean, Make Cavities Great Again, #amirite?!
RFK Jr.’s policies have Republicans all riled up about how the government is finally going to do something about all of the preservatives and otherwise unhealthy crap that’s in our foods. It’s not like their own elected officials have purposefully deregulated health and safety standards while defunding agencies like the FDA that exist to keep our food and drinking water safe. I’m old enough to remember when they went after Michelle Obama for trying to tackle this very problem.
Also, on a quick personal note, for the past eight years, I have learned a lot from reading the comments on CB’s political posts. I was dealing with a personal tragedy during the summer of 2016, so I wasn’t as engaged until the very end, and a lot of it was inspired by what y’all had to say on here. So, if you feel like what you have to say doesn’t matter, please know that it does. There is always someone who is listening. We’re all in this together, fluoride and all.
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