Comment by davorak
1 year ago
> Dismissing this possibility as crazy (as it usually is) seems really ignorant. The most plausible explanation is that current levels likely do cause some small level of intellectual impairment in at least some portion people.
If so it needs to be compared to the level of intellectual impairment caused by any increase in infection from tooth decay or the more tentatively researched links between mastication and cognitive decline.
Modern dental care to handle any an increase in tooth decay would need to be factored in. My main point is to make sure IQ changes on both sides of the equation are addressed.
Dental health can be controlled in other ways. Forcing a specific dental care method with (hypothetically) known negative effects is immoral; individuals should be allowed to choose their own dental care methods. Informed *choice* is (was?) a crucial tenant of medicine.
> Informed choice is (was?) a crucial tenant of medicine.
We are not talking about doctors doing medical care, but governments making choices for the governed and that gets in to moral and governmental theories for how the consent of the governed is granted/gathered.
> Modern dental care to handle any an increase in tooth decay would need to be factored in. My main point is to make sure IQ changes on both sides of the equation are addressed.
But you’re not even supposed to drink it! It’s supposed to be absorbed on your teeth. Adding it to all drinking so that a tiny amount gets absorbed would sound crazy for another additive.
Fluoride for dental care should be replaced with vitamins D and K2, which will move calcium to the bones and teeth. Diets could be adapted to be more tooth decay preventative.
I don't think a naive cost-benefit analysis is sufficient for making the decision to administer what amounts to medicine without informed consent.
We have the concept of “public health” for this reason. This is no more or less non-consensual than vitamin-enriched foods or municipal spraying for malaria.
No there does not need to be such a comparison. The question is whether fluoride affects intellectual development.
The problem of what to do once we know how much fluoride affects intellectual development is a policy problem that is entirely separate from the original question.
Not to mention forcing people into drinking a neurotoxin (from the recommendation of dentists who are very very far from being neurologists too lol). It looks absolutely insane from the outside.
> Modern dental care to handle any an increase in tooth decay would need to be factored in.
Also: if you can afford it / have insurance coverage to get said care.