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As bans spread, fluoride in drinking water divides communities across the US (kffhealthnews.org)

submitted 8 months ago by MicroWave to c/news

371 comments fedilink hide all child comments

…

It is a scenario playing out nationwide. From Oregon to Pennsylvania, hundreds of communities have in recent years either stopped adding fluoride to their water supplies or voted to prevent its addition. Supporters of such bans argue that people should be given the freedom of choice. The broad availability of over-the-counter dental products containing the mineral makes it no longer necessary to add to public water supplies, they say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while store-bought products reduce tooth decay, the greatest protection comes when they are used in combination with water fluoridation.

The outcome of an ongoing federal case in California could force the Environmental Protection Agency to create a rule regulating or banning the use of fluoride in drinking water nationwide. In the meantime, the trend is raising alarm bells for public health researchers who worry that, much like vaccines, fluoride may have become a victim of its own success.

The CDC maintains that community water fluoridation is not only safe and effective but also yields significant cost savings in dental treatment. Public health officials say removing fluoride could be particularly harmful to low-income families — for whom drinking water may be the only source of preventive dental care.

“If you have to go out and get care on your own, it’s a whole different ballgame,” said Myron Allukian Jr., a dentist and past president of the American Public Health Association. Millions of people have lived with fluoridated water for years, “and we’ve had no major health problems,” he said. “It’s much easier to prevent a disease than to treat it.”

According to the anti-fluoride group Fluoride Action Network, since 2010, over 240 communities around the world have removed fluoride from their drinking water or decided not to add it.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I had great teeth as a kid, but then moved out to the boonies with well water, 5-6 years later I started getting cavities (while still getting fluoride at the dentist twice a year). My teeth have been nothing but problems since.

Now our town water refuses to add fluoride and a bunch of my son’s school mates already have fillings in kindergarten.

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[–] Got_Bent 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Are we sure these people don't just want to ban Florida but have a spelling problem?

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[–] A_Random_Idiot 15 points 8 months ago

Oh good. Whats old is new again.

Flouride conspiracies are old hat compared to most of the bullshit thats been bandied about in the past 10 years.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Just fighting against the most insidious of communist plots.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Solved it guys, Introducing T-dazzle, a safe fun and natural system to keep your sparklies sparkling. You can even earn discounts on your long term dental checkups by using it.

[–] BeautifulMind 14 points 8 months ago

Fun fact: spreading conspiracy theories about the evils of fluoride in the water (it's mind control! pollutes our precious bodily fluids!) was one of the talking points that crypto-fascists threw against the wall to see if it would stick- if you recall the line about your "precious bodily fluids" in Dr. Strangelove, that was a nod to that particular vein of conspiracy theory that was making the rounds in the far-loony fringes of what was then the Republican party

[–] CosmicCleric 13 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

Supporters of such bans argue that people should be given the freedom of choice.

I truly do not mean to belittle anyone who holds this opinion, but isn't this such a minor thing to be worried so much about, to try to prevent?

I just mean there seems to be like a hundred other things that would be more important to discuss before we get to fluoride in the water.

[–] Dultas 14 points 8 months ago (2 children)

No one is forcing them to drink tap water with fluoride in it. They can buy purified water if they're that afraid of it.

I bet the same people that are worried about fluoride have never had their tap water actually tested to see what their pipes might be leeching.

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