The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced it will begin the process of pulling prescription fluoride drops and tablets for children off the market. The supplements are usually given to kids at high risk for cavities.
The news release suggested that ingested fluoride can alter a child’s gut microbiome and cause weight gain, thyroid disorders and “possibly decreased IQ.”
i’m sorry but i don’t know what this means
Back when I was your age…
They brought fluoride concentrates with bubblegum flavor in little paper cups on a brown plastic tray for us to swish with for like five minutes or whatever in kindergarten.
I’ve met other people who got disposable arc shaped cups that someone would squeeze a fluoride gel out in and have them bite down into. That was how some dentists offices would do it too.
It’s a more targeted and effective way to make sure the people who benefit most (children) get the most intense and useful dosage in a controlled and precise way.
We don’t need to spray and pray into municipal water supplies now that there are more effective and reliable ways to reach people with preventative care. I think it’s actually counterproductive to rely on municipal water supplies because more and more Americans live out in the sticks on wells that don’t provide the treatment.
Of course, if we weren’t paying for massive amounts of industrial grade fluorine to dump into water supplies then the companies that make it would have to pay to dispose of it so it’s unlikely that better system of care will naturally come about under the perverse incentives of the market.
Brother what? Let’s not do this
What do you mean? In my admittedly limited experience less than ten percent of private wells get fluoridated. American housing has seen tremendous growth in areas not served by municipal water. Fluoridation becomes less effective with each passing year. Why not switch to targeting the treatment directly and close that gap?
Most people live in cities. You’re saying we need to take it out of the municipal supply and rely solely on private dentists to administer the fluoride. You’re saying this is better because it helps people in rural areas get the treatment. If you wanted to help the rural people then you would just offer OTC treatments for free rather than take it away from the cities.
I’m saying administer it in schools like before.
Teachers have to buy pencils and paper for their students, they aren’t getting fluoride for free somehow
I know. It would be cheaper and more effective to administer fluoride rinse than to treat the whole water supply.
Isn’t the science pretty conclusive that it benefits adults too.
I’m pretty sure there have been small scale examples of this where conspiracy theorists managed to remove the fluoride from tap water and then 10 years later cavities absolutely skyrocketed.
It does but not near as much as it does in children who are building up enamel much faster. The whole point of water supply fluoridation was to reach children, not adults.
My point is that water supply fluoridation only made sense in a situation where you couldn’t reliably reach children and people didn’t have dental care. In a nation with mandatory public schooling and one which could easily provide dental care to children at the very least it is a goofy system.
Lol what planet do you live on where people have dental care in the US
Posting from the successful George mcFly timeline
I’m not suggesting that dental care is widespread, only that the conditions which proscribe water supply fluoridation are no longer present and we shouldn’t be saying “no, keep the fluoridation” but instead “you’re right, municipal fluoridation is an outdated practice, fluoride rinse for children and free dental care for all!”
Dentists are locked behind paywall. If you leave that treatment up to professionals only, then the the only people who will get it are the ones who can afford and regularly get care. This leaves millions of people not getting the treatment.