Was I wrong about fluoride in water this whole time?

I grew up thinking fluoridated tap water was a government plot, until my dentist showed me the decay rates in my town dropped 40% after they added it back in 2018. Now I'm wondering if the anti-fluoride crowd just got to me first. What made you switch sides on a big conspiracy, or did something cement your belief?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul_morgan1mo ago

The 40% drop is actually on the low end, some towns saw close to 60% fewer cavities after adding fluoride back. The anti-fluoride crowd got to a lot of us because they tell a simple scary story, but the real science is way more boring and way more proven. My dentist showed me x-rays of kids' teeth from before and after, and honestly the difference is hard to argue with when you see it side by side. What finally got me was reading the actual studies from places like the CDC and WHO, not the youtube videos from people selling water filters or alkaline drops. Once you look at the data on tooth decay in whole populations over decades, the "government mind control" angle just doesn't hold up.

robin_campbell361mo ago

Hold on, I gotta push back a little here. In my experience, a lot of those CDC and WHO studies get cited but they often compare apples to oranges or leave out newer research on fluoride's downsides. Your mileage may vary, but some of the towns with the biggest drops also happen to have better access to dentists and sealants now, not just the water. The real science around fluoride is still pretty debated when you look at things like IQ impacts in kids or skeletal fluorosis from long term exposure. Plus, the idea that you can't argue with x-rays from a dentist who has a financial interest in fewer cavities feels a bit circular to me.