A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.

So much for cheap and easy dental health care improvement....

Bunch of anti-dentites.

Approves

Already farked!

wow farked after 90 clicks?

Farked after 230 clicks?!

My sister is a dental hygienist and one of the dentists she works with said that he would retire if Obama became president.

Yeah, he's still working.

It's nuts that people fear fluoridation. My city, Philadelphia, does it, and given that I brush only one time a day but drink a lot of tap water, I credit it for never having a cavity.

If it's THAT important to protect all the precious snowflakes' teef...

How about a voucher program for fluoride rinse, instead of having to swallow the shiat?

/sorry, if I'm making too much sense

GoGoGo: A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.
So send Slim Pickens in the air!

Purity Of Essence

All I can say is wow. This is how far back in time this country has gone. Proven therapy for preventing dental caries is rejected. Oh well, since I am a dentist myself, all I can say is if you guys want to keep paying my salary go right ahead. I am not going to object anymore to repealing water fluoridation acts anymore

DubyaHater: All I can say is wow. This is how far back in time this country has gone. Proven therapy for preventing dental caries is rejected. Oh well, since I am a dentist myself, all I can say is if you guys want to keep paying my salary go right ahead. I am not going to object anymore to repealing water fluoridation acts anymore
In other words, "I'm a dentist and I'm really getting a kick out of some of these replies."

The benefits are negligible. Brushing and regular dental cleanings are far, far, far more important in preventing cavities. If your teeth have crap and plaque stuck to them, rinsing them with flouridated water does nothing.

It's not some wacko conspiracy, and likely not detrimental at all, but it's largely pointless. Why can't water that comes from a tap just be water?

If people want to drink a few glasses of flouridated water every day, let them buy it themselves.

Any real data available? Such as average dental spending in areas that treat their water vs areas that don't?

zvoidx: If it's THAT important to protect all the precious snowflakes' teef...

How about a voucher program for fluoride rinse, instead of having to swallow the shiat?

THIS.

I don't care how "good for you" something supposedly is. We don't need you putting it in our water supply.

DubyaHater: Proven therapy for preventing dental caries is rejected.

I don't see this as "people rejecting dental care". How do you know they don't buy fluoridated toothpaste and brush three times a day? I see this as "don't be pouring shiat into my water supply, no matter how beneficial it supposedly is!"

Dentistry loser? What? Anyone who actually believes that people in the dental industry are actually saddened by other peoples cavities needs to get real.
In dental school one of the recurring jokes is that we ought to ban fluoride because it gives us less to do.

stiletto_the_wise: zvoidx: If it's THAT important to protect all the precious snowflakes' teef...

How about a voucher program for fluoride rinse, instead of having to swallow the shiat?

THIS.

I don't care how "good for you" something supposedly is. We don't need you putting it in our water supply.

What are your opinions on mandatory vaccinations for children attending public schools?

zvoidx: /sorry, if I'm making too much sense

I find it very amusing that folks who say that, rarely are the ones making sense. Like, somehow implying that they are the one beacon of facts in a sea of misinformation... rather than just plain nuts in an obvious way.

One need only look at the other stuff the anti-fluoride people believe to come to a conclusion about the view, without even really needing to investigate at all.

Fluoridation was introduced in a time when many people didn't brush their teeth on a regular basis. That is not the case nowadays. I would like to see a good scientific study, double blind and whatnot, to see if it actually is worth it.

Shvetz: What are your opinions on mandatory vaccinations for children attending public schools?

I don't think vaccinations should be mandatory. On the other hand, any parent who doesn't get their kid vaccinated is a neglectful asshat--Darwin will be keeping an eye on that family...

DubyaHater: All I can say is wow. This is how far back in time this country has gone. Proven therapy for preventing dental caries is rejected. Oh well, since I am a dentist myself, all I can say is if you guys want to keep paying my salary go right ahead. I am not going to object anymore to repealing water fluoridation acts anymore

When I was in Dental school, San Antonio was the largest city without flouridated water in the U.S. and we had a flouridation act up for vote. It goes without saying that the school had a large public education campaign going. I volunteered and spoke at many PTA groups on the subject, 60 yrs. worth of research in hand. However the resistance from the conspiracy theorists (whom I laughed at) and those that wanted a personal choice rather than forced compliance (whom I could relate somewhat with) was overwhelming. It eventually passed and we should see some 10 yr. data coming out soon.

Now that I've been out of school for a while and run my own practice (and some idealism is gone), I agree with DubyaHater, keep bringing those kids with decay to me, I need a boat.

Gridlock: Fluoride losing is great news.

Dentistry losing is not great news.


Dude, enough with your family pics already.

Fluoride was invented by Nazis so its bad, mkay?
Link (new window)

wow if you people read this... there is no mention of Obama

It is hard to determine whether flouride does any good to prevent cavities or not. On one side you have the studies provided to dentists paid for directly or indirectly by industries who would otherwise have to pay to dispose of this toxic waste via means other than dumping them in our water supply vs the tin hats some of who _really do_ think that it is a commie plot for mind control, but some of who do show data that implies that flouridated water does not do much if anything to stop cavities, but may cause other problems since it is a toxic substance.

When I first looked into this a couple decades ago I did read some of the studies which started with the observation that communities that naturally (without addition) had some flouride content in their water supply had a lower incidence of cavities but if the content was too high it had the opposite effect of causing not just tooth but general bone destruction. However, something I pointed out but which no dentist I've spoken to could answer was that these water supplies had not only higher content of flouride but higher content of other minerals such as calcium and magnesium which would also explain healthier teeth so why weren't those minerals looked at as being the cause?

I did have one dentist about 20 years ago who took this into consideration who said he would look into it (but I moved soon after and never saw him again). I actually trusted his opinion since at the time the ads were running for some sugarless gum that said "4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum." I asked him what the other 20% recommended and it turned out he was one of them. He had once been involved in a study on the matter and found chewing sugared vs sugarless gum made no difference to the incidence of cavities. Chewing either one actually reduced the incidence of cavities a slight amount.

I did look into it a bit further and found that tooth health is generally better in areas of the country which have hard water (high mineral content) vs those with soft water but this could be skewed by soft water being prevalent in the southeast which traditionally does not have the best oral hygiene.

I bet it wouldn't really cost that much money to find a few dentists willing to testify to city council that Gatorade is good for you and therefore should be added to the water supply...

jafiwam: zvoidx: /sorry, if I'm making too much sense

I find it very amusing that folks who say that, rarely are the ones making sense. Like, somehow implying that they are the one beacon of facts in a sea of misinformation... rather than just plain nuts in an obvious way.

One need only look at the other stuff the anti-fluoride people believe to come to a conclusion about the view, without even really needing to investigate at all.

If find it disturbing that you choose to be ignorant of the fact that there is poison being intentionally put into the water supply.

Fluoride is a poison. You can rationalize everything else as much as you want. If you need to rinse with fluoride, then get a dental rinse.
Why would you there be a need for blanket fluoridation, when only a few ounces per day are needed to rinse?
Most people use toothpaste, anyway.

Remember that if the toothbrush hadn't been invented in Oklahoma, it would have been called a teethbrush.

Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face.

captainwil: wow if you people read this... there is no mention of Obama

The first sentence of the article:
Fifty-three cities rejected fluoridation in referenda held in four states on November 4, 2008, according to the Fluoride Action Network (FAN).

Great! Now we can compare British teeth jokes.

gotta love database errors

Looks like the important work here was taken care of in the boobies. Sometimes I love this place.

/Nothing wrong with my bodily fluids!

Ingesting fluoride is beneficial when you are young and your teeth are still developing. The benefit is minimal when you are an adult. You want the fluoride in your system so it can incorporate with your teeth while they are growing. I see way too many kids with dental problems who are drinking well water.
Obviously, too much of anything is bad for you. That's why studies are performed to determine the proper concentration for your drinking water. Again though, you want to deny your child Fluoride, I will send you my fee schedule

zvoidx: If find it disturbing that you choose to be ignorant of the fact that there is poison being intentionally put into the water supply.

Fluoride is a poison.

So are all of the other things added to drinking water to purify it. The 'poison' argument can be applied to pretty much anything, including the chemicals that our body needs to function.

zvoidx: Fluoride is a poison.

So is alcohol, nicotine, and dihydrogen-monoxide. Yet, in the proper amounts they can be pleasurable or essential to life.

Science, you fail at it.

And for your practical question "why", well, because the folks who don't have health or dental insurance now, are the same ignorant type poor folks (sometimes not so ignorant and not so poor) that need every chance not to end up in an ER with an infected abscess they can get.

You and I pay for that shiat every time it happens, health care or not. Using fluoride even if it reduces the cavity rate among the 1 - 15 year old set by a few percent, is well worth it. Stronger teeth as a kid leads to a LIFETIME of better health. Some of the stuff that hangs out in infected gums goes on to damage heart valves and will cause health problems or premature death later in life too.

Schadenfreude ist die schoenste Freude: Why can't water that comes from a tap just be water?

You mean, like, water from the toilet?

DON.MAC: Remember that if the toothbrush hadn't been invented in Oklahoma, it would have been called a teethbrush.

toothesesbrush?

jafiwam:

Could morons like you please stop refering to H2O as dihydrogen-monoxide? It really is not at all clever. By the way it is also not poisonous. Twit.

jafiwam: zvoidx: Fluoride is a poison.

So is alcohol, nicotine, and dihydrogen-monoxide. Yet, in the proper amounts they can be pleasurable or essential to life.

Science, you fail at it.

And for your practical question "why", well, because the folks who don't have health or dental insurance now, are the same ignorant type poor folks (sometimes not so ignorant and not so poor) that need every chance not to end up in an ER with an infected abscess they can get.

You and I pay for that shiat every time it happens, health care or not. Using fluoride even if it reduces the cavity rate among the 1 - 15 year old set by a few percent, is well worth it. Stronger teeth as a kid leads to a LIFETIME of better health. Some of the stuff that hangs out in infected gums goes on to damage heart valves and will cause health problems or premature death later in life too.

Honestly, I'm not an anti-fluoride activist and I actually drink tap water. I was just compelled to post.

I didn't consider those scenarios and you make good points. What I was originally getting at is that there has to be some other delivery system besides the drinking water supply, even for the poorest people..

benedictus28: Could morons like you please stop refering to H2O as dihydrogen-monoxide? It really is not at all clever. By the way it is also not poisonous. Twit.

Oh Rly? (new window)

Alcohol will kill you by poisoning in large amounts. So will ingested water. If you call alcohol a poison, nicotine a poison, botulism toxin a poison, then on the same spectrum you need to call water a poison.

"Poison" is just a way of describing both _results_ on a biological system and _dosage_ on a biological system. Shorthand for saying the amount encountered will cause harm.

When applied to fluoride in the water, saying it is 'poison' is a LIE because the amount encountered _is not_ harmful. Just like saying a glass of water is 'poison' is a LIE because the encountered amount is not harmful.

Again, science, you paranoid anti-fluoride folks fail at it.

Flouride was originally used as an insecticide. It's actually quite effective in that capacity. It was made illegal to use as an insecticide thanks to heavy lobbying by the same folks who wanted to put it in your drinking water. I mean, it's hard to market putting insecticide in your drinking water, right? Problem solved. Have a big ol' glass of insecticide biatches.

/drinks soft water

DubyaHater: I see way too many kids with dental problems who are drinking well water.


I respect that you probably know a lot more about this than I do, considering you're a dentist and I'm an IT geek, but I would like to point out one thing:

I grew up with well water. I went to school in a backwater county so it had a well too (actually it barely had indoor plumbing at all), and didn't drink fluoridated water on a regular basis until I left for college at age 18. I also drank tons of soda at home and at school. And I have never had a cavity in my life. Neither has my sister.

I credit two things for this: Dumb luck in the DNA department; and a dentist who, when we were children, preached regular fluoride treatments as part of the every-six-month cycle. My baby teeth were so strong that the roots simply would not rot away so they could fall out and make room for my adult teeth. I only lost two teeth the normal way, the rest had to be pulled.

/exception that proves the rule, or somesuch...

the_geek: Flouride was originally used as an insecticide. It's actually quite effective in that capacity. It was made illegal to use as an insecticide thanks to heavy lobbying by the same folks who wanted to put it in your drinking water. I mean, it's hard to market putting insecticide in your drinking water, right? Problem solved. Have a big ol' glass of insecticide biatches.

/drinks soft water

What part of "the amount you ingest changes it from being a poison to being beneficial" do you not understand?

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha!

This Is Not A Test: DubyaHater: I see way too many kids with dental problems who are drinking well water.


I respect that you probably know a lot more about this than I do, considering you're a dentist and I'm an IT geek, but I would like to point out one thing:

I grew up with well water. I went to school in a backwater county so it had a well too (actually it barely had indoor plumbing at all), and didn't drink fluoridated water on a regular basis until I left for college at age 18. I also drank tons of soda at home and at school. And I have never had a cavity in my life. Neither has my sister.

I credit two things for this: Dumb luck in the DNA department; and a dentist who, when we were children, preached regular fluoride treatments as part of the every-six-month cycle. My baby teeth were so strong that the roots simply would not rot away so they could fall out and make room for my adult teeth. I only lost two teeth the normal way, the rest had to be pulled.

/exception that proves the rule, or somesuch...

God Bless anecdotal evidence.