The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced it will begin the process of pulling prescription fluoride drops and tablets for children off the market. The supplements are usually given to kids at high risk for cavities.

The federal government and some state legislatures are increasingly drawing attention to what they claim are the risks associated with fluoride, a mineral that’s been used for decades in community water systems, toothpastes and mouth rinses to prevent tooth decay.

Dentists fiercely contest the notion that the harms of fluoride outweigh the benefits.

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    This is such a fundamental change to get used to - some branches of government have been a meritocracy my entire life, doing their best to do the right thing, being careful to heed the best scientific advice, that my immediate reaction is to trust them. Then I remember we’re living in a time where the only qualification is personal loyalty and this particular circus is run by a clown

    • LarmyOfLone@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      To be fair, the FDA was incompetent / hamstrung in many other areas before. The overriding purpose was to increase profit.

      They, at least they are trying something new :D

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    So much for parents doing research and deciding if it’s right for them. Yet another bad faith argument.

  • kescusay@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    RFK Jr. strikes again. I’ll never understand why people like him can’t grasp the idea that the difference between medicine and poison is often dosage.

    The amount of fluoride in these tablets is nowhere near unsafe levels. It’s not even close.

    • alaphic@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Dude took his grandkids swimming in a sewage infested waterway… I mean, you expect someone like that to have even the loosest grasp of anything resembling nuance?

    • MrMcGasion@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I beat the rush and stocked up in December, and I hate that that purchase is already feeling justified. One option to keep in mind as well is that tea is relatively good natural source of fluoride. So if things get bad enough, becoming an unsweetened tea-drinker might help.

        • MrMcGasion@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          Yeah, I agree it’s weird. As an American who grew up in an area where sweetened tea wasn’t the norm, I hate having to specify. But I also don’t have any faith left in my fellow countrymen, and feel like I have to make it clear for them.

        • warbond@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          I don’t order tea often, but we would also have to specify if we want it hot. I guess I always thought of the options as sweet/unsweet iced tea, or probably nothing because I’d be surprised if they have some earl grey back there.

  • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    So - this started as a John Bircher thing right?

    I’ve just been befuddled at the purpose and the point of this conspiracy theory. I guess Alex Jones’s dad is a dentist (and a Bircher) but I doubt that dentists conspire for us to have bad teeth.

    Just generic “I don’t like the gubmit”? Was it a Jewish person who suggested that we improve dental health on a population level? What’s the initial bit of skin or hair that this stupid booger coalesced around?

    I guess these weirdos have always been around. We just didn’t put them in charge of health.

    • renzev@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      I doubt that dentists conspire for us to have bad teeth.

      People with bad teeth is literally their main revenue stream?! I wouldn’t put it past them.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    They try to make Americans weak, sick, and dead on all fronts. As of the US government was under control of a hostile country.

  • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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    4 days ago

    if you visit any of the reviews of FLOURIDE-free toothpaste, you can tell at least some of them have reported cavaties.

    • renzev@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      I once tried brushing my teeth with baking soda instead of toothpaste for a few weeks. From what I understand, they have about the same level of abrasiveness, so they should be about as good at scrubbing the gunk out of your teeth. The key difference is that toothpaste has fluoride in it. After a while I started having pain/irritation in my mouth and gums. It went away when I went back to toothpaste. So if anyone was looking for anecdotal evidence of fluoride being good for your teeth, there you go.

      • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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        3 days ago

        i used toothpaste with potassium nitrate and flouride thats useful for sensitivity, just gotta find the right one.

      • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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        3 days ago

        BAKING soda is pretty abrasive, according to the dental sub, the grain size is usually coarse, so it wears down yuor enamel. i used some whitening toothpaste that uses a combination of baking soda, hydrated silica, and hydrogen peroxide, i stopped after it i learned it damages the teeth, but also it was causing severe gum irritation and ulcers, and gave me angular chelitis.

        • renzev@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          This comment was removed incorrectly. What exactly is the “disinformation” here? This guy was literally just giving his interpretation of what happened to me, not making any assertions about fluoride and its efficacy in general. They even affirmed that it’s ANECDOTAL evidence right in their reply! Stop reading conspiracies into everything!

  • Zenith@lemm.ee
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    3 days ago

    When my husband was like three his especially neglectful mother wasn’t watching him like always and he ate an entire bottle of fluoride tables and had to get his stomach pumped, this was in the 70s. With childproof caps and general awareness this should really not be considered an issue, kids shouldn’t have unfettered access to pills in general, it’s not a fluoride thing.