Misinformation campaigns increasingly target the cavity-fighting mineral, prompting communities to reverse mandates. Dentists are enraged. Parents are caught in the middle.

Misinformation campaigns increasingly target the cavity-fighting mineral, prompting communities to reverse mandates. Dentists are enraged. Parents are caught in the middle.

The culture wars have a new target: your teeth.

Communities across the U.S. are ending public water fluoridation programs, often spurred by groups that insist that people should decide whether they want the mineral — long proven to fight cavities — added to their water supplies.

The push to flush it from water systems seems to be increasingly fueled by pandemic-related mistrust of government oversteps and misleading claims, experts say, that fluoride is harmful.

“The anti-fluoridation movement gained steam with Covid,” said Dr. Meg Lochary, a pediatric dentist in Union County, North Carolina. “We’ve seen an increase of people who either don’t want fluoride or are skeptical about it.”

There should be no question about the dental benefits of fluoride, Lochary and other experts say. Major public health groups, including the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, support the use of fluoridated water. All cite studies that show it reduces tooth decay by 25%.

  • QuentinCallaghan@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    196·
    7 months ago

    “Medical freedom”, the rallying cry for all kinds of grifters spreading disinformation and wanting to roll back the progress made in public health.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      72·
      7 months ago

      And they don’t seem to like the fact that they have the freedom to filter the fluoride back out of the water.

        • Kalkaline @leminal.space
          64·
          7 months ago

          AND THEY DON’T SEEM TO LIKE THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE THE FREEDOM TO FILTER THE FLUORIDE BACK OUT OF THE WATER.

          • john89@lemmy.ca
            9·
            7 months ago

            Right.

            Let’s put any amount of contaminates in our drinking water just so people can “filter them out.”

            I swear, some of you people are just too far gone.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              66·
              7 months ago

              Again, there are places where fluoride occurs naturally in drinking water at higher concentrations than it is added artificially and there don’t seem to be significant health problems.

              • BastingChemina@slrpnk.net
                3·
                7 months ago

                Hmmmmm no ! I’m not against fluoride in water, I don’t care since I don’t live in north america but spreading disinformation does not help.

                There is regions, especially in India, where fluoride occurs by naturally in water in high concentration which is causing multiple serious health issues.

                Neurology of endemic skeletal fluorosis

                • SuddenDownpour@sh.itjust.works
                  8·
                  7 months ago

                  “There are higher concentrations of fluoride in water than we usually put in it that is still healthy to drink” != “Any concentration of fluoride in water is safe”

                  Any substance becomes toxic if you ingest too much of it. If you exceed by a factor of 20 the amount of plenty of things people usually consume, it isn’t difficult to find things that are dangerous or even lethal. Say, coffee, beer, anti-inflammatories, chocolate, Coke.

    • john89@lemmy.ca
      12·
      7 months ago

      🥱

      Or, give people the option to choose for themselves.

      Scientific consensus has been wrong many times before, and it will be wrong many times again.

        • john89@lemmy.ca
          7·
          7 months ago

          Right.

          Let’s put any amount of contaminates in our drinking water just so people can “filter them out.”

          Someone mentioned arsenic earlier in this thread, and I think I can find some study that says arsenic is good for you. Let’s add it to our water and anyone who thinks it’s harmful can just filter it out.

          Also, I’m adding my fecal matter to the water supply to improve people’s microbiomes. They can just filter it out if they don’t like it.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            51·
            7 months ago

            Fluoride is not a contaminant, but please do find a study that says arsenic is good for you. This should be interesting.

            • john89@lemmy.ca
              3·
              7 months ago

              Fluoride is not a contaminant

              Says who?

              https://gizmodo.com/hey-remember-when-people-used-to-eat-arsenic-as-a-heal-1676316276

              It’s not a study, but there was a time when people believed arsenic wasn’t poisonous. There were most likely scientists back in the day advocating for its usage. You can find their work if you’re really interested.

              A more recent and easier to research example would be all the “studies” saying lead is safe. Do I have to specifically point to those, or can you understand my point without it?

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                42·
                7 months ago

                It’s not a study

                Okay, so note what you claimed.

                There were most likely scientists back in the day advocating for its usage. You can find their work if you’re really interested.

                It’s not my job to prove you aren’t lying.

                • john89@lemmy.ca
                  2·
                  7 months ago

                  I mean, if you don’t want to understand then you won’t understand.

                  I’ve done my part. If you want to replace arsenic with lead, then will it make sense?

                  Probably not because you don’t want to understand.

                  Also,

                  Fluoride is not a contaminant

                  Says who?

                  You conveniently ignored this part.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    126·
    7 months ago

    The thing that seriously hurts those anti-fluoridation nuts is that fluoride can naturally be in water supplies and there are water supplies with higher PPM fluoride amounts than municipalities that add them in the U.S., but there don’t appear to be any increased health issues.

    Not that such people generally care.

        • HubertManne@kbin.social
          2·
          7 months ago

          I don’t think bringing attention to conspiracy theories as conspiracy theories is bad. If anything its a good thing. I mean if it was the about the lizard aliens or flat earthers it would be the same.

          • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
            4·
            7 months ago

            I’m not so sure about that after the last 8-9 years of political discourse in the US. You assume bringing light to them means people will see how ridiculous they are, but in reality they just bring the conspiracy into the forefront, where people then take sides and dig their heels in.

            Trump getting a ton of coverage as the laughing stock candidate leading up to the 2016 election gave him the edge he needed to win while the rest of us thought the coverage would lead to a landslide victory for his opponent.

  • inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world
    53·
    7 months ago

    Hey, a article that bucks Betteridge’s Law.

    Of course there’s no question, yes, and Republicans and communities should be ashamed at being this stupid to cater to such a dumb, ridiculous, and small group of idiots and are going to cost everyone more in dental insurance to socialize the cost of their stupidity.

  • Red_October@lemmy.world
    50·
    7 months ago

    They have their freedom, they are free to do whatever they want to filter their own drinking water. They’re free to buy or produce distilled water for all their consumption. They’re free to only ever drink beer. But the drinking water provided as a public good should be maintained for the good of the public, and when the studies are pretty clear that fluoridated water fights tooth decay, then fluoridated water it is.

  • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.worldEnglish
    45·
    7 months ago

    So we’ve circled back to to water/fluoride water conspiracies again?

    History, doomed to repeat, before our very eyes once more…

    • sudo42@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      7 months ago

      Can always rely on the classics to stir up the rubes. A new sucker born every minute.

  • Altofaltception@lemmy.world
    30·
    7 months ago

    All cite studies that show it reduces tooth decay by 25%

    But because of my sugar intake, my teeth are shit anyway

    /s

  • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
    23·
    7 months ago

    I absolutely can’t stand minty or cinnamon toothpaste, and have really struggled with brushing my teeth because of it. It drives me absolutely insane that so many of the flavors I can tolerate are only available in fluoride free formulations and/or get discontinued.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      14·
      7 months ago

      I have issues with brushing too. I have a nerve disorder in my face which makes brushing my teeth extremely painful, so I can’t do it all that often. I definitely benefit from fluoridated drinking water.

          • john89@lemmy.ca
            2·
            7 months ago

            I mean, if you still get cavities and gum disease then what benefit are you really getting?

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              13·
              7 months ago

              Fewer cavities and less gum disease. I’m not sure why you don’t consider making something less of a health problem to be beneficial.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                  9·
                  7 months ago

                  Be as dubious as you like.

                  You just seem to have poor dental health

                  I never said that, you did.

                  you don’t take care of your teeth properly.

                  Yes, I explained why.

                • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
                  8·
                  7 months ago

                  You seem to be a very nosey person with strange opinions. Seems like you can easily do something about it, while Flying Squid can’t. Maybe take this opportunity?

        • AquaTofana@lemmy.world
          2·
          7 months ago

          So, I do brush my teeth at least daily (I shoot for twice, but I’m not going to pretend that always happens), and I’ve recently started flossing once daily (recently as in, it was my New Years resolution).

          I’ve only had cavities twice in my life - once when I spent 2 years living in Okinawa, and once when I got back from a deployment where we were advised to only drink bottled water.

          No other adjustments to my routine. The only thing I can chalk it up to is the lack of fluoride in both instances. And like I said, I’m not someone who takes immaculate care of my teeth.

          Edit: Purely anecdotal experience, obviously, I just really couldn’t come up with an alternative answer 🤷‍♀️

      • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
        2·
        7 months ago

        Ouch, that must really suck! I’m not dealing with actual physical pain here, just hate the minty fresh feeling in my mouth. Does mouthwash cause pain for you? I’ve never really used it, but briefly wondered if I could use a fluoride free toothpaste plus a fluoridated mouthwash, but I think I ran into the same issue with limited fluoridated flavors.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          4·
          7 months ago

          Mouthwash does not cause pain for me, but I think that’s pretty disgusting and I’m currently dealing with a different health problem that involves heaving. Hooray shitty genes. I may resort to it one day if I have to.

    • snapoff@sh.itjust.works
      9·
      7 months ago

      Crest two in one shield is strawberry flavor with fluoride. Source: I have a teen with the same aversion. It doesn’t have animals or anything on it, but it is a “kids” toothpaste. You’d never know without reading it though, so I thought I’d mention it. Sorry if you’ve already heard of that one.

      • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
        3·
        7 months ago

        I haven’t tried it, but will keep it in mind. I’m currently using the Hello brand toothpastes. They seem to be a little less sweet than most other kids toothpastes, which is a big plus for me. I like their bubblegum and orange flavors best, and the blue raspberry isn’t bad either. They have some other flavors without fluoride, so you have to pay attention though.

          • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
            2·
            7 months ago

            Yeah, Crest used to sell an orange flavored toothpaste that wasn’t a kid’s product, and when it got discontinued, I paid about $30 for 3 tubes, so I was super excited to find another orange toothpaste. The only challenge is that very few stores carry the orange one, so I think I ended up buying it directly from the manufacturer website.

            • snapoff@sh.itjust.works
              2·
              7 months ago

              Oh man I don’t remember the orange toothpaste, but I remember when Crest had the orange mouthwash bc that was my jam.

    • superfes@lemmy.world
      5·
      7 months ago

      I love cinnamon, it’s so hard to find anymore, in contrast to your hatred, I wish they made more of it, but I also believe that they should be open to more flavors that aren’t just oriented toward children.

      • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
        2·
        7 months ago

        Huh. I see quite a few cinnamon options online, but I wouldn’t be surprised that it’s harder to find in physical stores. They really seem to be cutting back on options everywhere lately. I found a brand that I like, so I just order a few tubes at a time from their website.

    • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
      3·
      7 months ago

      Aquafresh Extreme or whatever has a citrusy taste with a hint of mint. I love it, but my fiance hates it. It’s called Mint Blast, but it’s so minty that it doesn’t taste minty to me.

      You might like it, or you might hate it with the fire of a thousand suns.

      • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
        1·
        7 months ago

        OMG, both “extreme” and “blast” in combination with the word “mint” make me feel very strongly that I’ll hate it! Haha. That whole “icy fresh” breath thing is so uncomfortable to me. When I’m done brushing my teeth, I just want my mouth to feel neutral.

    • Reyali@lemm.ee
      2·
      7 months ago

      I read your comment earlier today and then by chance was going to reorder toothpaste tonight, and I realized the kind of toothpaste I recently fell in love with has a citrus and a grape flavor, so I hunted down your comment to share with you!

      The toothpaste has both fluoride and hydroxyapatite, which helps rebuild enamel. Ever since I started using hydroxyapatite, my teeth have that “fresh from the dentist clean” feeling every time I brush them. I was using a Japanese brand of toothpaste for a few years because that’s the only place I found that kind of toothpaste, but it was fluoride free. Just one tube ago I found a brand that has both!

      The brand is Carifree, and this is the one I use.

      Looks like they also have citrus and grape mouthwash!

      • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
        2·
        7 months ago

        And I thought I was crazy when I paid $10 for a 6oz tube! Hahah. I do need a new dentist though, so I might just try one of the dentists near me that carries their stuff so I can grab a tube.

        • Reyali@lemm.ee
          2·
          7 months ago

          Yeah, I should have mentioned the price is pretty insane… I’d desensitized myself to it a bit because of the whole buying-Japanese-toothpaste thing wasn’t cheap, and now I just can’t stand not using hydroxyapatite for more than like a week, lol.

  • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
    19·
    7 months ago

    Just let the fuckers teeth fall out already. I am tired of so much effort being spent on people who clearly want to die. It is everything, from seatbelts to motorcycle helmets to vaccines to transfats to HFC drinks. They want to die? Let them. Maybe darwinism will save us from them maybe it won’t but at least we can all stop hearing about it.

    • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      22·
      7 months ago

      Hi, I’m shit at brushing my teeth long enough/regularly enough. I am glad fluride is in the water.

      Hi I’m someone who has concerns about animal testing and is sensitive to SLS causing mouth ulcers/generally ruining taste for a while, unfortunately hippy toothpaste often lacks fluride for insane reasons. I am glad fluride is in the water.

      Hi I’m a kid with horrible parents that neglect my dental care. I am glad fluride is in the water.

      “Just let people hurt themselves” is never that easy.

    • pymn
      8·
      7 months ago

      A slicht problem with this approach is that for vaccines to be effective for anyone almost everybody has to be vaccinated…

  • manucode@infosec.pub
    19·
    7 months ago

    Here in Germany, drinking water isn’t fluoridated but fluoridated salt is sold at every grocery store. I assume that fluoridated salt isn’t as easily available to those in the US who could now end up without fluoridated water, is it?

        • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
          2·
          7 months ago

          I disagree with them as well for different reasons but me not taking care of my teeth also doesn’t make yours fall out

          • Red_October@lemmy.world
            8·
            7 months ago

            You can do whatever you want to your teeth and you’re correct that it doesn’t effect me, but this isn’t a discussion about individual action or inaction. This is about what happens with the public water supply, which effects the entire public. That’s why his comment about “mandated exercise” is wrong. You not brushing your teeth doesn’t effect me, but removing the fluoridation from my water does.

            • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
              2·
              7 months ago

              I agree with you that its not about individual action, I was just saying your argument was kind of a non-sequitur. It was a hypothetical, so it’s more like if exercise was already mandated and the argument was to take it away. In this metaphor you would be arguing in favor of the mandated exercise, just like you’re arguing for fluoride, because you wouldn’t get enough exercise without it.

              Whatever, it’s early, maybe I’m not making much sense. I wasn’t trying to start anything. I’m more or less undecided on the whole fluoride thing.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
        8·
        7 months ago

        Thanks, I’ve only read about mostly bone disorders but it makes sense that fluoride might interfere with other halogens in the body.

        I’d like to see people make decisions on cost benefit analysis based on medical research. Dental caries can lead to tooth infections which have a number of severe health consequences but it doesn’t mean there aren’t smaller concerns about fluoridation that should also be taken into account.

        • xep@kbin.social
          2·
          7 months ago

          For what it’s worth I live in a country where the drinking water isn’t flouridated. It’s not a problem and it’s certainly never made the news. I think easy availability of dental care, especially in schools since children tend to not be great at taking care of their teeth, is a bigger concern.