Comment by quitit
19 days ago
The missing context here is that the science and established benefits of fluoride aren’t a culture war political football in those countries.
These countries largely publicly recognise the benefits of fluoride, but don’t add it because:
- Some countries opt for intake via supplementation.
- Some have a naturally sufficient supply in drinking water via natural processes.
- Some even need to reduce the abundance of fluoride in their water due to over supply.
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Everything they said was true; is there some additional information that should have been provided above and beyond?
You could help by providing something worth reading.
Not possible. He just needs to write less.
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> 1. The beneficial effect of fluoride occurs only when fluoride is applied externally, in contact with the tooth enamel
I think you are kinda misusing science/not science arguments.
This is indeed the scientific reason why there is flouride in the water. It is also scientific reason why some countries removed it.
In some countries people take care of their teeth on average and in other countries not so much. So there is science for why fluoridation happens. You can read many articles about the fluoride benefits for teeth and what is the impact of teeth for overall health.
>The problem is that fluoridation of the drinking water is not supported by any science.
Yet it is supported by science.
Indeed even the discovery of this property of fluoride came about from the observation of people who naturally consumed fluoride had fewer dental caries and tooth decay.
Further studies cemented the benefits of the passive inclusion of fluoride in drinking water versus control groups. So no, the science you speak of is almost certainly politics dressed up as science.
Just a note for future people reading this comment. This is completely and totally wrong, and arguably should be deleted from Hackernews for being so deluded.
There have been countless studies that show that communities with flouride in the water have consistently lower rates of tooth decay than communities without fluoride in the water. In fact, community water fluoridation has been recognized as one of the great public health achievements of the 20th century.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have shown repeatedly that water fluoridation reduces tooth decay in both children and adults by approximately 25-30%.
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So same applies to the comment they were replying to and pretty much anything anyone said in this thread?
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Why is that missing context? I don't think anybody who is against fluoridated tap water rejects the benefits of fluoride, they just think the harms of adding it to tap water outweigh the benefits.
Might I introduce you to the US’ head of antivax and conspiracy theories: https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1852907832884285708
I don't see a statement of his opinion on fluoridated toothpaste, which is the real test.
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