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How does drinking fluoride aid health?

• hanniabu 6y ago
  In large doses it's bad but in small doses it's good for dental health.
• ouid 6y ago
  Keeps those mouth rocks hard and corrosion resistant.
• jcranmer 6y ago
  Small amounts of fluoride are added to help tooth enamel regeneration, helping to prevent cavities.
• colordrops 6y ago
  It doesn't. The selling point is that it strengthens teeth but there really isn't strong evidence for that. An analysis done by Harvard found it to lower IQs in children: https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/10579664/3491930.pdf https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/10579664/3491930... The data is from China but the levels at which effects were found can be found in some regions of the US. Water fluoridation started because it was a cheap and easy way to get rid of industrial chemicals: https://origins.osu.edu/article/toxic-treatment-fluorides-transformation-industrial-waste-public-health-miracle https://origins.osu.edu/article/toxic-treatment-fluorides-tr...
  • jcranmer 6y ago
    > An analysis done by Harvard found it to lower IQs in children: Looking at that statistic, the levels of the high group are generally ranging from 2-4 mg/L. The target level of water fluoridation is usually about 0.7-1 mg/L, which is about the level of the reference groups in that statistic. As the saying goes, the dose makes the poison, and this is already extremely well-known for fluorine, and accounted for in the water treatment process and regulations.
    • colordrops 6y ago
      The maximum allowed in the US is 4mg/L and the CDC recommends giving children up to 8 years old water with at least 2mg/L [1]. There are plenty of places with more than 2mg/L in the US and Kentucky has places over 4mg/L [2]. I bet everyone down-voting my comment is doing it out of reflex and has never read anything about this. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_in_the_United_States#Water_fluoridation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_in_the_Unit... [2] http://www.uky.edu/KGS/pdf/ic12_01.pdf http://www.uky.edu/KGS/pdf/ic12_01.pdf
      • jcranmer 6y ago
        > the CDC recommends giving children up to 8 years old water with at least 2mg/L [1]. Actually, the Wikipedia article says the opposite (the citation it gives is a dead link, of course)--it suggests to parents that they should be careful with having children use fluoride toothpaste or water with > 2mg/L of water. > There are plenty of places with more than 2mg/L in the US and Kentucky has places over 4mg/L [2]. If you read that study carefully as well, that's talking about the natural fluoride concentration of well water, not fluoridation within water treatment plants. (Another reason to generally prefer municipal treatment plants as a source for water: they are more likely to follow more stringent guidelines for water contaminants than individual wells).
      • Retric 6y ago
        Wikipedia isn’t correct here. PHS now recommends an optimal fluoride concentration of 0.7 milligrams/liter (mg/L). In this guidance, the optimal concentration of fluoride in drinking water is the concentration that provides the best balance of protection from dental caries while limiting the risk of dental fluorosis. The earlier PHS recommendation for fluoride concentrations was based on outdoor air temperature of geographic areas and ranged from 0.7–1.2 mg/L. This updated guidance is intended to apply to community water systems that currently fluoridate, or that will initiate fluoridation, and is based on considerations that include: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4547570/?report=classic https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4547570/?report.... (Public Health Rep. 2015 Jul-Aug) Which goes on to say: For many years, nearly all of these fluoridated systems used fluoride concentrations ranging from 0.8 to 1.2 mg/L; fewer than 1% of these systems used a fluoride concentration at 0.7 mg/L (Unpublished data, Water Fluoridation Reporting System, CDC, 2010). When water systems that add fluoride implement the new PHS recommendation (0.7 mg/L), the fluoride concentration in these systems will be reduced by 0.1–0.5 mg/L, and fluoride intake from water will decline among most people served by these systems.
  • jtbayly 6y ago
    > Water fluoridation started because it was a cheap and easy way to get rid of industrial chemicals That's fascinating, because this is an article trying to figure out what to do with such chemicals. If treating water with fluoride is a cheap way to help, I suppose we should continue.
    • simoom22 6y ago
      No, flouride was the chemical they were trying to get rid of.
• jb775 6y ago
  This reminds me of a NYT article I read years ago that measured the amount of Lithium found in water levels around the USA, and they found that areas with higher Lithium levels had lower levels of violent crime. It also makes you think how vulnerable a majority of the world is to people messing with their drinking water.
  • dehrmann 6y ago
    Sounds like a bunch of happy people who found their friends.
• gostsamo 6y ago
  saves you from the worst cases of tooth cavities.
• KozmoNau7 6y ago
  It doesn't. The only benefit it has is when it washes over your teeth and strengthens your enamel. If you use fluoridated toothpaste, the fluoride in your tap water is pointless at best.
  • selimthegrim 6y ago
    Citation? Because that’s not what my pediatric dentist friends say.
    • KozmoNau7 6y ago
      Systemic fluoride is completely superfluous if you've already got topical fluoride. https://www.ada.org/en/member-center/oral-health-topics/fluoride-topical-and-systemic-supplements https://www.ada.org/en/member-center/oral-health-topics/fluo...
      • selimthegrim 6y ago
        The point is the kids can’t be relied on
        • sjg007 6y ago
          Parents should be brushing their kids teeth.
          • selimthegrim 6y ago
            Well for whatever reason that’s not happening with enough frequency
            • KozmoNau7 6y ago
              That does not justify needlessly medicating the entire tap water-drinking population.