For or against: fluoride in the water?

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When I first visited a dentist upon moving to Oregon he took one look in my mouth and said "You didn't grow up here, did you?" He said he could tell because I still had all my teeth and only had a few cavities. Very few parts of the state put fluoride in the water.

I was thinking about this again the other day when Mo came home from 1st grade with a letter explaining that our area did not have fluoridated water and the school would provide a daily fluoride rinse for all students who wished to participate. I signed Mo up.

I know fluoride is a posion and that large doses of it is dangerous and that a lot of people don't want floride in the water for that reason alone.

But knowing what we know about tooth decay and gum disease and it's relationship with other health problems a fluoride rinse seems like a no-brainer.

A lot of people think I'm wrong.

Do you?

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I grew up in one of those rare areas where fluoride occurred naturally in the water supply, and we used artesian well-water for our drinking water (city water for the sink, bathroom, washing machine, etc.). I think it's a good idea.

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let's look at other everyday innovations that you'd think would be good for teeth... saccharine, nutrasweet, splenda...

you know what my dentist told me? they don't even help. but the point is, everyone associated them with health, at first.

it will be interesting to see what costs fluoride is shown to have in the future, when the studies are through and the people with a vested interest in keeping them from the public are gone and have already cashed in.

personally, the only thing i want in my water is h2 and o. but if you want to use fluoride, it's as easy to get as toothpaste.

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I'll be 47 in a few weeks so I don't think this fluoride stuff is some new fangled thing.

My dentist knew immediately that I wasn't from here simply because my teeth aren't rotten.

I've also read (I'll see if I can find a link) that along with the increase in sales of bottled water there has been a corresponding increase in tooth decay and gum disease.

I need to do a little research....

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Ah, the fluoride wars.

I mentioned earlier today that I used to participate in a parenting board -- I left it largely because of the fluoride wars. People were wigging out. Mostly, there was a camp that thought all fluoride was evil, and then another camp that thought it had its uses.

I researched it thoroughly at the time. What I emerged with is the conviction that fluoride ON teeth is a very useful thing, especially for people who are prone to cavities, and that fluoride in water is helpful but probably not the most effective way to do that. Fluoride toothpaste and rinses is a much better way.

I'm not against fluoride in water, though. I've been sending bottled water to school with my daughter every day, often two (snack, lunch) and have been getting the kind with fluoride. (Later I'll probably just get a decent water bottle and use tap water.)

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tinygiraffe wrote:

it will be interesting to see what costs fluoride is shown to have in the future, when the studies are through and the people with a vested interest in keeping them from the public are gone and have already cashed in.

The debate about fluoridating water in the United States began in the late 1940s, and heated up considerably in the 1950s, when fluoride was put into water systems in many places in the country where it did not occur naturally--and was successfully opposed by conservative "Chicken Littles" crying doom and disaster in other parts of the country. So we have more than 50 years worth of data, and a naturally occurring control population of those who did not live in areas in which the water was fluoridated and in which fluoride also did not naturally occur in the water supply. There is no doubt in the scientific community that fluoride in the water supply dramatically increases dental health, and that no stable fluoride resides in water sources in toxic dose levels. You need to do some research.

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Setanta wrote:

tinygiraffe wrote:
it will be interesting to see what costs fluoride is shown to have in the future, when the studies are through and the people with a vested interest in keeping them from the public are gone and have already cashed in.

The debate about fluoridating water in the United States began in the late 1940s, and heated up considerably in the 1950s, when fluoride was put into water systems in many places in the country where it did not occur naturally--and was successfully opposed by conservative "Chicken Littles" crying doom and disaster in other parts of the country. So we have more than 50 years worth of data, and a naturally occurring control population of those who did not live in areas in which the water was fluoridated and in which fluoride also did not naturally occur in the water supply. There is no doubt in the scientific community that fluoride in the water supply dramatically increases dental health, and that no stable fluoride resides in water sources in toxic dose levels. You need to do some research.

I remember somewhat clearly that Utah considered Fluoridating water to be a communist plot.

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The amount of fluoride in the water is welllllll below anything that would be toxic, even over a lifetime. It has never been shown to create toxic compounds in the body. It has been used for years. If there were issues they would have shown up by now.

There is no great conspiracy to worry about. No one makes big money putting it into the water supply. Your dentist would make FAR more money letting your kids teeth rot and filling them than he is going to make doing a few fluoride treatments.

And contrary to the wacko nut jobs of the 1950's fluoridation does not lead to "the loss of precious bodily fluids." Finally, Ann Coulter is dead set against it! Nuff said???

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Here's and interesting article from the Center for Disease Control on the history of fluoridated water: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4841a1.htm

This, in particular, caught my eye:

Quote:

Water fluoridation costs range from a mean of 31 cents per person per year in U.S. communities of greater than 50,000 persons to a mean of $2.12 per person in communities of less than 10,000 (1988 dollars) (21). Compared with other methods of community-based dental caries prevention, water fluoridation is the most cost effective for most areas of the United States in terms of cost per saved tooth surface (22).

Water fluoridation reduces direct health-care expenditures through primary prevention of dental caries and avoidance of restorative care. Per capita cost savings from 1 year of fluoridation may range from negligible amounts among very small communities with very low incidence of caries to $53 among large communities with a high incidence of disease (CDC, unpublished data, 1999). One economic analysis estimated that prevention of dental caries, largely attributed to fluoridation and fluoride-containing products, saved $39 billion (1990 dollars) in dental-care expenditures in the United States during 1979-1989 (23).

I wonder what it costs to have all those little tablets made and shipped to every area school. And what about the class time used to make sure all of the kids enrolled in the program get their daily fluoride treatment.

I think this might just be an elementary school program. What about older kids or kids that don't go to school. And, sure, it's easy to say that I can go out and buy fluoride products but when someone is struggling just to feed their family toothpaste might not be the first thing on their shopping list.

What if my choice is to invest in community health for everyone and I think the people who don't want fluoride should have the expense of buying bottled water. Should a healthier population be a luxury or should bottled water be a luxury?

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Quote:

Finally, Ann Coulter is dead set against it! Nuff said???

<snork>

Nuff said, indeed.

Why is she against it?

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Also, in terms of "healthier population," it's not just about dental health. Having dental problems is a gateway to all kinds of other problems -- there was an article on this in the New Yorker, I remember being surprised at how many other problems can be traced to tooth decay. It was in the context of how lack of preventive medicine/ lack of affordable health care has a big impact on expenses later on. I think bone loss was a problem, and diabetes, and definitely diet-based issues as people's ability to eat was compromised by bad teeth that they couldn't afford to get fixed.

Fluoride in the water alone definitely isn't enough to head off all problems. But the cost/ benefit analysis seems to be in its favor.

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Boomerang asked "Why is Ann Coulter against it" Who knows? Probably because it is a commy plot or because scientist are for it and you KNOW they are all liberal B*stards!

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Boomerang, I would only caution that Mo not get too much fluoride. My oldest son has brownish stains on his teeth that are permanent and I've been told they are a result of too much fluoride. Until he was 10 we lived in a city with water containing fluoride (as did our toothpaste and I suspect as a youngster he ate it <sigh>). On the other hand he has never had a cavity. And my youngest has no staining and has only ever had one cavity. Maybe some kids have more susceptible teeth and maybe that's something your dentist could tell you. I don't know.

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dyslexia wrote:

I remember somewhat clearly that Utah considered Fluoridating water to be a communist plot.

It is ! ! ! It is ! ! !

Keep that under your hat, though, 'K?

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Tai:
Just out of curiosity, was your son ever on tetracycline?

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99.44% of all convicted rapists once drank milk!

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TheCorrectResponse wrote:

Tai:
Just out of curiosity, was your son ever on tetracycline?

Nope.

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The only reason I asked is because that drug will cause darkening and mottling of the teeth if given in large doses or for prolonged periods to children under 12 years of age or so. If the mottling is not pronounced it can resemble the effects of too much fluoride.

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Warning! Brain on Vacation
Sorry, I'm having one of those days and have just realized that I forgot to mention something rather crucial (because I forgot about it totally until now <sigh>). In addition to fluoride in the water and toothpaste, my son had fluoride treatment from the dentist (how the hell did I forget that?) where they put this wax form in the mouth (like the kind of tooth guard you might use to play hockey) and it's filled with fluoride and bathes the teeth with the stuff for a period of time while child lounges in the dentist's chair. Anyway, that mystery solved, ignore me, I'm having a menopausal moment (if only they weren't happening quite so often...).

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TheCorrectResponse wrote:

The only reason I asked is because that drug will cause darkening and mottling of the teeth if given in large doses or for prolonged periods to children under 12 years of age or so. If the mottling is not pronounced it can resemble the effects of too much fluoride.

I'd heard of that. My kids were disgustingly healthy I'm afraid. (Don't get me started on the advantages of breast feeding Smile

)

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For or against: fluoride in the water?

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