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 federal government and some state legislatures are increasingly drawing attention to what they claim are the risks associated with fluoride, a mineral that’s been used for decades in community water systems, toothpastes and mouth rinses to prevent tooth decay.
Dentists fiercely contest the notion that the harms of fluoride outweigh the benefits.
I do not assert that merely swallowing water with fluoride offers any benefit to do with dental health.
It should be obvious that the act of directly swallowing water containing fluoride would give the water little to no opportunity to interact with one’s teeth, which would be required for the intended preventative effect.
This is very similar to the decision by most nations to put low base levels of iodine in table salt. Given peoples’ daily habits and diet, it was determined to be a safe and reliable way of ensuring exposure to a needed substance for general health. Not everyone has or will have the discipline to apply fluoridated paste to their teeth regularly (hell, many people don’t even brush their teeth regularly!). Nor would many people take steps to ensure they had a recommended dose of iodine if they had to think about it, rather than just getting it through their daily meal …
It should be clear to anyone that it’s the incidental daily, weekly, monthly, yearly cumulative effect of fluoridated water, even in the brief interval before it is swallowed, swishing in the mouth and in direct contact with teeth, that can be of benefit.
Explain to me the science of how municipal fluoridation causes health issues so severe that it should be discontinued.
I’ve never mentioned anything about municipal fluoridation. You are reacting in a knee jersey fashion to the word fluoride.
I’m saying there is no point buying fluoride tablets for personal/household use because it’s much better to enforce use of fluoride toothpaste. There is no reason for the tablets to be on general sale.
They’re not on general sale, they’re prescription. I’ve never been recommended these as a kid or as a parent (for my kids) and this is the first I’ve heard they even existed. They must be uncommon at best.
I see you haven’t interacted with many kids with special needs. Not everything in life can be easily “enforced” for everyone.
Also watch them ban fluoride toothpaste next.
Sure. Niche cases exist. Prescriptions are still fine.
But the average person should not be adding flouride to their water. They should brushing their teeth.
That would be indefensible.
Do you really believe they will have fluoride prescriptions?
Edit: from the article: will begin the process of pulling prescription fluoride drops and tablets for children off the market.
Mentally disabled people may need prescription flouride, but children don’t. They need flouride toothpaste and a toothbrush.
“Well I sort of agree with my flawed understanding of what they’re doing so it must be fine.”
We’ve already played this game with abortion. Stop justifying insanity.
This article is about the FDA pulling approval from prescription fluoride. Reading comprehension is hard, I know.
It’s not hard to stick a toothbrush into a toddlers mouth. You don’t need a prescription.
Impressively ignorant and single minded take. Remove a possible solution from everyone because there is some other solution that may not work for everyone?
Get your crackpot bullshit out of here please, any method that gets humans flouride to protect their teeth is good, and defending less choices to accomplish that, or removing it from municipal water is incredibly stupid and must be being done for some shady reason by our chief worm brain and his cohort of dentist office owning buddies.
Flouride toothpaste is a solution for everyone. More importantly, it’s a better solution because brushing also removes plaque and food.
Adding flouride to bottled water is the crackpot idea here. If you care that much about flouride then just brush your teeth properly with flouride toothpaste.
Now you are inventing arguments. Municipal water hasn’t entered the conversation.
…
Are you just being intentionally argumentative?