Dentists are struggling to counter RFK Jr. on fluoride

[Mask]

Dentists are struggling to counter RFK Jr. on fluoride​

Red states are banning the tooth-protecting mineral, while blue state skeptics aren't budging.​

Danny Nguyen

“Fluoride’s predominant benefit to teeth comes from topical contact with the outside of the teeth, not from ingestion,” an HHS spokesperson told POLITICO. “There is no need, therefore, to ingest fluoride.”

The impact the retreat from fluoridation has on oral health will show whether dentists are right, that a cavity crisis will follow, or whether Kennedy’s view, that Americans can get the fluoride they need in toothpaste and mouthwash, will bear out.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency within HHS, has held out fluoridation as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, citing data that it reduces tooth decay by as much as 70 percent in children and tooth loss by as much as 60 percent in adults.

But Kennedy nonetheless believes the case to remove fluoride is urgent because of evidence that it can curtail children’s brain development. It’s a position bolstered by a report from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences during the Biden administration and an Obama-appointed federal judge last year — though the levels of fluoride they examined were higher than what Americans consume.
Dentists see it otherwise.

“This is revving up an anti-science narrative,” said Brett Kessler, the president of the American Dental Association, the country’s leading dentists’ group. “There are ways to get fluoride in toothpaste, some of the foods we eat, some of the drinks we drink, topical fluoride mouthwashes. … But without fluoridated water you’re already behind the eight ball because you’ve got vulnerable teeth.”

Dentists’ case​

Opposition to adding the cavity-fighting mineral to water — based on a mishmash of reasoning around the purity of the drinking supply, concerns about side effects and conspiracy theories — has long been a cause of some on the left.

Before Utah and Florida’s moves, residents of Hawaii, New Jersey and Oregon were the least likely to have fluoride in their water, according to a review of 2022 data by the United Health Foundation, a philanthropy started by the insurer UnitedHealth Group to promote better public health.

(The same study found 79 percent of Floridians and 43 percent of Utahns drank fluoridated water.)

Health researchers have mostly found that low levels of fluoride, including the amounts found in drinking water systems across the U.S., are safe and can help fortify teeth against decay and other ailments.

Many communities began to fluoridate their water in the mid-1900s at the behest of voters and their local and state governments. In 1962, HHS started providing guidance on fluoride in drinking water, and the Environmental Protection Agency invoked the Safe Drinking Water Act years later to enforce these standards, though fluoridation is still done at states’ discretion.

 

[yureeka9]

I'm on the fence with this one. On the one hand it makes sense that the benefit from Fluoride would be from contact and not through ingestion but consider the source. Kennedy is a raving lunatic. I'll let the nonpartisan scientists hash this out and I'll follow their recommendation.

 

[OutlawR.O.C.]

American teeth in the next 10 years:

 

[illlit]

I'm on the fence with this one. On the one hand it makes sense that the benefit from Fluoride would be from contact and not through ingestion but consider the source. Kennedy is a raving lunatic. I'll let the nonpartisan scientists hash this out and I'll follow their recommendation.

When you look at the remains of mummies or any human remains found from a thousand plus years ago they usually have all their teeth.

There was no chemical fluoride And those times and their teeth was perfectly fine.

That alone so let you know that this is some pure BS.

 

[God-Of-War-420]

When you look at the remains of mummies or any human remains found from a thousand plus years ago they usually have all their teeth.

There was no chemical fluoride And those times and their teeth was perfectly fine.

That alone so let you know that this is some pure BS.

And here we have it folks, mummies have teeth so Flouride bad lmao and this is why we listen to scientists and not the internet.

 

[LordSinister]

When you look at the remains of mummies or any human remains found from a thousand plus years ago they usually have all their teeth.

There was no chemical fluoride And those times and their teeth was perfectly fine.

That alone so let you know that this is some pure BS.

They also didn't eat the amount of raw Sugar Americans ingest today.

 

[OutlawR.O.C.]

They also didn't eat the amount of raw Sugar Americans ingest today.

And the average age of death then was 30 years or younger.

 

[An RnB Thug]

I'm still astonished they would put a documented ANTI-VAXXER
in charge of vaccines and health in this country
Just amazing

 

[christop]

Clown ass poster and a clown ass Health and Human Services Secretary.

 

[OutlawR.O.C.]

I'm still astonished they would put a documented ANTI-VAXXER
in charge of vaccines and health in this country
Just amazing

Why?

We nominated the person who appointed him and he's a proven failed businessman, racist, accused rapist (multiple times) who also attempted to overthrow the government after losing the 2020 election.

The sad thing is out of all the people he appointed RFK Jr. may be the most sane and reasonable which is a frightening reality.

 

[b_visionary]

Dumb ass country.

 

[therealjondoe]

When you look at the remains of mummies or any human remains found from a thousand plus years ago they usually have all their teeth.

There was no chemical fluoride And those times and their teeth was perfectly fine.

That alone so let you know that this is some pure BS.

What was the life expectancy back then?

 

[D24OHA]

I'm still astonished they would put a documented ANTI-VAXXER
in charge of vaccines and health in this country
Just amazing

That fits the drumpf agenda perfectly

It's the same reason you put a strict anti public school / pro private school advocate in charge of the Department of Education the first term and then a doppelganger dummy in charge the 2nd term.

 

[durham]

When you look at the remains of mummies or any human remains found from a thousand plus years ago they usually have all their teeth.

There was no chemical fluoride And those times and their teeth was perfectly fine.

That alone so let you know that this is some pure BS.

 

[Duece]

Metairie Mask letting that Mask slip again.

 

[God-Of-War-420]

That person is allowed to vote, drive a car, own a gun and procreate... Allow that to sink in. Lol

 

[^SpiderMan^]

I'm on the fence with this one. On the one hand it makes sense that the benefit from Fluoride would be from contact and not through ingestion but consider the source. Kennedy is a raving lunatic. I'll let the nonpartisan scientists hash this out and I'll follow their recommendation.

This man was the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health and was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health. Not only is he confused about his own gender, but he openly supported sex changes for kids by giving them puberty blockers. With NO age limits. This means a 10 year old boy who thinks he is is a girl, can get puberty blockers to prevent his natural testosterone production. He also wanted to remove the word "Mother" from all K-12 schools and replace it with "gestational parent,” “birth parent,” or “egg producer.” But because he is on the "Democrat Team" we as black folks ignore it (we ALL know this is fucked up) and instead attack RFK because he is not on the "Democrat Team".

When you look at RFK's positions, most of them make alot of sense.
1.) He wants to remove unhealthy Ultra processed foods from school lunch, SNAP, and WIC programs - Ultra processed foods are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
2.)He wants to ban “hundreds” of GRAS additives and announced a plan to phase-out six synthetic food dyes by end of 2026. These are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
3.) He wants visible warning signs on packaging for all foods that are high in sugar, sodium, or saturated fat products. These are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
4.)He wants to redirect farm subsidies toward fruits, vegetables, regenerative ag and restrict SNAP purchases of sugary drinks. This will contribute to better health. Why would we be against this?
5.) He wants to remove flouride from our drinking water. Flouride might be harmful when ingested and there is no solid evidence that it makes a big difference in oral health by drinking it. Why would we be against this?


Because the goal is to fight anyone not on the "Democrat Team" and on the "Trump team" many of us focus on the vaccine issue which actually has solid arguements on both sides. IMO it is not nearly as cut and dry as sex changes for kids.

 

[LordSinister]

He also doesn't believe in vaccines. 2 things can be true. RFk can be a dumbass with a few common sense ideas. BTW can you post your source for the kids getting sex changes at 10 years of age.

 

[neptunes007]

American teeth in the next 10 years:

its like that now

 

[OutlawR.O.C.]

its like that now

 

[julian]

im amazed at how dumb people are. its like the covid vaccine. b4 the vaccine people were DYING by the thousands and then poof we get a vaccine and death almost completely stops from covid19 but yet you got idiots saying the vaccine was bad and not helpful. simply look at photos from the early decades of the 1900s and everyone had yuk mouth and now Americans as a whole have healthy teeth regardless of financial status. nothing is 100% safe but its foolish to remove floride cause of some morons unscientific reasons. let them learn the hard way when those red states residents start having yuk mouth

 

[Ryokurin]

When you look at the remains of mummies or any human remains found from a thousand plus years ago they usually have all their teeth.

There was no chemical fluoride And those times and their teeth was perfectly fine.

That alone so let you know that this is some pure BS.

Bullshit. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34258529

Not to mention, the average ancient Egyptian didn't live past the age of 35.

Wealthy Egyptians back then when they lost teeth would have a healthy tooth pulled from one of their slaves and then have it literally wired the teeth into their mouth similar to a modern day bridge.

Fluoride is naturally occurring and there are various levels of it in most of the water on earth, even ocean water. What got scientists to study it was the realization that places where there were higher concentrations of it in the water supply (again, naturally) the people tended to have 26-44% less tooth decay than places where it was much lower. There are also no reliable studies that show that the places that had higher natural levels also had higher cancer, down syndrome, kidney stones, kidney disease, high blood pressure, or premature death (which are the typical things I hear from the fearmongers)

 

[APOPHIS]

Kennedy has some far-fetched beliefs, but he might be correct about fluoride. Many Japanese and European scientists think that fluoride can interfere with brain development in children. It's banned in many developed countries except for the US.

 

[APOPHIS]

This man was the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health and was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health. Not only is he confused about his own gender, but he openly supported sex changes for kids by giving them puberty blockers. With NO age limits. This means a 10 year old boy who thinks he is is a girl, can get puberty blockers to prevent his natural testosterone production. He also wanted to remove the word "Mother" from all K-12 schools and replace it with "gestational parent,” “birth parent,” or “egg producer.” But because he is on the "Democrat Team" we as black folks ignore it (we ALL know this is fucked up) and instead attack RFK because he is not on the "Democrat Team".

When you look at RFK's positions, most of them make alot of sense.
1.) He wants to remove unhealthy Ultra processed foods from school lunch, SNAP, and WIC programs - Ultra processed foods are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
2.)He wants to ban “hundreds” of GRAS additives and announced a plan to phase-out six synthetic food dyes by end of 2026. These are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
3.) He wants visible warning signs on packaging for all foods that are high in sugar, sodium, or saturated fat products. These are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
4.)He wants to redirect farm subsidies toward fruits, vegetables, regenerative ag and restrict SNAP purchases of sugary drinks. This will contribute to better health. Why would we be against this?
5.) He wants to remove flouride from our drinking water. Flouride might be harmful when ingested and there is no solid evidence that it makes a big difference in oral health by drinking it. Why would we be against this?


Because the goal is to fight anyone not on the "Democrat Team" and on the "Trump team" many of us focus on the vaccine issue which actually has solid arguements on both sides. IMO it is not nearly as cut and dry as sex changes for kids.

I agree with a few of his health positions, but many are seen as extreme, unscientific viewpoints (some are, no doubt) and political allegiances detract from the ones that have solid grounds.

 

[Ryokurin]

When you look at RFK's positions, most of them make alot of sense.
1.) He wants to remove unhealthy Ultra processed foods from school lunch, SNAP, and WIC programs - Ultra processed foods are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
2.)He wants to ban “hundreds” of GRAS additives and announced a plan to phase-out six synthetic food dyes by end of 2026. These are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
3.) He wants visible warning signs on packaging for all foods that are high in sugar, sodium, or saturated fat products. These are unhealthy and contribute to a lower quality of life. Why would we be against this?
4.)He wants to redirect farm subsidies toward fruits, vegetables, regenerative ag and restrict SNAP purchases of sugary drinks. This will contribute to better health. Why would we be against this?
5.) He wants to remove flouride from our drinking water. Flouride might be harmful when ingested and there is no solid evidence that it makes a big difference in oral health by drinking it. Why would we be against this?


Because the goal is to fight anyone not on the "Democrat Team" and on the "Trump team" many of us focus on the vaccine issue which actually has solid arguements on both sides. IMO it is not nearly as cut and dry as sex changes for kids.

1. You know one of the places he recommended people to buy prepackaged foods for last week serves ultra-processed foods and preservatives right? After they got called out on it, they claimed they were working on eliminating them. He really doesn't care, he wants a kickback.

2-4. You do also know that they tried this before during the Obama administration, Some companies completely got rid of them, and others only did it with specific stores. People overwhelmingly rejected them, claiming it tasted different, or just looked sad. Actually, several of the things he's talking about now, they tried but of course now no one remembers or were 100% against it because they didn't want the government telling them what they could and couldn't eat. Guess because it's a white guy now, it's fine.

5. See my previous post on flouride.

 

[Ryokurin]

Kennedy has some far-fetched beliefs, but he might be correct about fluoride. Many Japanese and European scientists think that fluoride can interfere with brain development in children. It's banned in many developed countries except for the US.

Site the study. Don't use ChatGPT, it's wrong.

These countries don't fluoridate their water – here's why

With water fluoridation of drinking water under the spotlight in the US, we look at why some countries choose not to add the mineral to supplies.

www.bbc.com

But there are a variety of other reasons that countries don't fluoridate their water supplies.
In Europe, a 2018 report found that, of 28 EU nations, only Ireland, parts of the UK and Spain currently fluoridate their water supplies. Eleven countries had done so in the past but stopped. Fourteen never started.
However, countries that ceased water fluoridation programmes did not say that they did so because authorities there were concerned about public safety, says lead author Mary Rose Sweeney, a public health researcher who at the time of publication was working at Dublin City University in Ireland and now works at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and is vice president of the European Public Health Association's nutrition section.
Instead, some countries cited public complaints, such as from people who thought it was a violation of their human rights, or said it was up to individuals to manage their own fluoride intake. Others pointed to the fact that their populations got enough fluoride elsewhere. Of 11 countries that had ceased their fluoridation programmes, only two cited questions about safety and efficacy – Finland said fluoride's efficacy hadn't been proved, while the Czech Republic cited "debates" about fluoridation's safety and efficacy. None said they stopped fluoridation because they had determined that fluoride was harmful.

The article also states that a couple of countries that didn't actually put it in other foods, like Bulgaria puts it in milk, and Greece puts it in bottled water. Columbia puts it in salt.

 

[illlit]

And here we have it folks, mummies have teeth so Flouride bad lmao and this is why we listen to scientists and not the internet.

The whole logic went over your head. Here we go y'all a person that can't think clearly and is caping for the white man's Westernized medical structure, That blatantly does not cure anything....

 

[illlit]

What was the life expectancy back then?

According to the Bible and the Quran hundreds of years...

But we'll truly never know, because the Vatican and the governments of the world keep that a secret.

 

[illlit]

Bullshit. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34258529

Not to mention, the average ancient Egyptian didn't live past the age of 35.

Wealthy Egyptians back then when they lost teeth would have a healthy tooth pulled from one of their slaves and then have it literally wired the teeth into their mouth similar to a modern day bridge.

Fluoride is naturally occurring and there are various levels of it in most of the water on earth, even ocean water. What got scientists to study it was the realization that places where there were higher concentrations of it in the water supply (again, naturally) the people tended to have 26-44% less tooth decay than places where it was much lower. There are also no reliable studies that show that the places that had higher natural levels also had higher cancer, down syndrome, kidney stones, kidney disease, high blood pressure, or premature death (which are the typical things I hear from the fearmongers)

Concerns About Fluoride and the Brain:
Some studies, especially from areas with high natural fluoride levels (much higher than in U. .S municipal water), have raised concerns:

1: Lower IQ in Children:
Some studies (e g., from China, India, and Iran) suggest a correlation between high fluoride exposure and slightly lower IQ scores in children.
These studies often involve fluoride levels 2-10x
higher than those used in U. S water systems.

A 2019 Canadian study (Green et al.) also found a small association between prenatal fluoride exposure and lower IQ in boys, but it was not conclusive, and scientists are still debating its validity however no studies are completed.

2: Neurotoxicity (in animal studies).
Very high doses of fluoride have shown some
neurotoxic effects in rats and mice, including brain cell damage and behavioral changes
These levels are far higher than what humans are
exposed to through drinking water or toothpaste.

This is just doing a simple search that gives you this information.

Lastly when you're speaking about America the fluoride is going to be synthesized which means it's not pure. Like everything else they give us from the food to the water.

If a lot of you actually believe that the fluoride they put in everything is for the greater good, then something is off with how you think...

 

[God-Of-War-420]

According to the Bible and the Quran hundreds of years...

But we'll truly never know, because the Vatican and the governments of the world keep that a secret.

Well damn...how could you argue with logic and proof like this?

like I said this guy is allowed to vote and influence the policy that governs us all.
We're cooked.

 

[God-Of-War-420]

The whole logic went over your head. Here we go y'all a person that can't think clearly and is caping for the white man's Westernized medical structure, That blatantly does not cure anything....

According to the Bible and the Quran hundreds of years...

But we'll truly never know, because the Vatican and the governments of the world keep that a secret.

 

[tallblacknyc]

And the average age of death then was 30 years or younger.

Let’s not let the euros make people everybody was dying early.. even in old pics you be see native Americans, Africans, and others be having “elders” they be in their 80,90, 100.. the non washing continent had short life expectancy aka the euros… it’s lots of stories showing black people and others living long lives.. Hell there’s tribes now that don’t use modern medincine or interact with modern society that be having old ass people, so nothing change for them yet they still living long ass lives.. I never believed that short life expectancy shit for outside of euros.. other than war, natural disasters and maybe famine people had lengthy lives

 

[tallblacknyc]

By the way brushing with baking soda and using peroxide as a mouthwash does wonders for the teeth.. it’s not pushed cause the toothpaste and mouthwash biz makes billions off diff companies.. lot of toothpaste and mouthwash companies wouldn’t want you to know about a cheaper better solution it would put them out of biz

 

[November 17]

Impact of fluoride on neurological development in children | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

July 25, 2012 -- For years health experts have been unable to agree on whether fluoride in the drinking water may be toxic to the developing human brain.

hsph.harvard.edu

 

[November 17]

Timeline for Community Water Fluoridation

Fluoride in drinking water has contributed to the better oral health of the nation for over 75 years

www.cdc.gov