4mo ago

Utah set to become first state to ban fluoride in public water

www.nbcnews.com

AI Summary:

Utah is poised to ban fluoride in public water systems, pending the governor's signature.
The bill prohibits adding fluoride to public water and repeals previous related laws.
Federal health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized fluoride, influencing the bill.
Studies on fluoride’s impact on children's IQ have mixed results, with some showing negative effects and others showing no harm.
Major public health groups support fluoridation for dental health benefits.
The anti-fluoridation movement has gained popularity post-Covid-19.
Similar legislation is proposed in Florida, emphasizing the importance of consent in public health measures.

93 comments

Dental issues increased in Calgary and they voted to put it back.
- This is the way. The idiots have been coddled for generations. They need to have the experience of their teeth rotting out for themselves.
  
  And what about the other 49% they dragged down with them? You've also just made everyone's dental insurance 10x more expensive. Thanks!
  
  I bet the idiots have shares in the dental industry though.
next up (unless it happened first): no more data collection or research about statewide dental health
- Insurance companies will still collect it since they need to pay out for a lot of this shit. We’ll also be able to quantify this impact by looking at dental premiums and copays. They’ll eventually go up in states without fluoridated water.
  
  Or decline renewing your insurance.
  
  Good Guy Insurance.
- "Utah now has zero reported cavities! We were right to ban fluoride."
Utah poised to overtake UK as butt of bad teeth jokes.
- EU countries don't add fluoride to the water supply. At least half of the US seems to have cognitive impairment, by the way they vote.
  Maybe they're on to something?
  /s
  
  important to note about the "not adding Fluoride" bit: many countries have to remove fluoride from drinking water because there's too much of it...
  
  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-care-bill-factsheets/health-and-care-bill-water-fluoridation
  We believe that water fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure there is for reducing oral health inequalities and tooth decay rates, especially amongst children.
Dentists in ~~Florida~~ Utah: yesssss thanks for the increased business!
- The Utah dental association was strongly against it. Dentists already make good money and most of them actually care about their patients health.
  Dental health is also strongly correlated with cardiovascular disease and other diseases.
  
  Yeah I'm in dental myself (another country), and when anti-fluoride patients come in, we generally sassily remark that we thank them for keeping us in business. Bit of dark humour to see the silver lining in things, I guess?
  There have certainly been dental clinics going out of business in the last few years, something quite unheard of - unlike other 'new businesses', the success rate of opening a new dental clinic was normally guaranteed (unlike say a new cafe).
  If the general population want to remove one of the best public health initiatives, then so be it. We'll make hay while the sun shines.
- why florida? i feel i've missed something
  
  Last bullet point in OPs post:
  Similar legislation is proposed in Florida, emphasizing the importance of consent in public health measures.
  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna193651
  
  I 100% misread the title and thought it was Florida.
Oh for fuck's sake, how many times does this bullshit have to be debunked?!
Here's a paper that puts this nonsense to rest.
And if that's too "elitist" for you here's not one but two Youtube videos.
- People are going to be whining about cavities, in fact people who went flouride free toothpaste and complained they got cavities and blamed in on the effectiveness of the toothpaste
  
  It's because critical thinking is a dead skill in this country.
  We have essentially trained an entire generation to not rely on critical thinking skills anymore. And apparently in the process of graduating a second generation of the same.
  It is the plot of Idiocracy. Where the people don't even understand the things that affect them on a day-to-day basis they just know that "it's what plants crave"
- Curious if anyone can weigh in on this - is there much benefit to having fluorinated drinking water if you brush twice a day with fluorinated toothpaste and rinse with flourinated mouthwash?
  I distill all my drinking water, but it's to remove PFAS and all the other garbage we've polluted the earth with. Not because of flouride.
  
  My understanding is the most benefit is to children whose teeth are still growing, then secondarily to adults who have substandard dental hygiene. An otherwise healthy adult with good dental care routines is the least impactful case.
  Going off on the tangent of distilled water: distilled water can reduce overall minerals in the diet. From WebMD https://www.webmd.com/diet/distilled-water-overview
  Distilled water lacks even electrolytes like potassium and other minerals your body needs. So you may miss out on a bit of these micronutrients if you drink only the distilled stuff. Some studies have found a link between drinking water low in calcium and magnesium and tiredness, muscle cramps, weakness, and heart disease
Want to see what happens when you do this?
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/childrens-headline-indicators/contents/indicator-7
Notice the two states with the highest rates of dental decay are Queensland and Northern Territory?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_in_Australia
Yeah, those states didn't get flouride in their water until around 2012.
Such a coincidence...
It's also completely silly because many places have naturally fluoridated water!
- Yes but what about all the autism. Or mind controlling. Or whatever the hell it is that fluoride is evil for?
  
  Makes you listen to pop music.
  
  Conservatives are concerned that the miniscule chance of fluoride reducing children's IQ is enough to cause children to grow up to be conservatives.
Want job security? Become a dentist
- Fluoride in the water didn't help anyone's teeth. But your point remains valid I think
  
  Didn't what anyone's teeth?
RFK Jr. has criticized fluoride
Yeah see, that right there is the only thing you really need to see that the ban is a bad idea.
Shit; the serial killer sympathizers, racist, cousin fuckers, are about to add this to the list
Sorry to all my brits, I know this hits home.
- To be fair, you can have more cavities and still not eat rocks
  
  you underestimate how fragile teeth can be
There’s Swig all over the place in Utah… it’s literally liquified sugar. The dentists in that state are going to have an absolutely stellar future as their customers increase.
- I'd agree, but Utah has an excessive glut of dentists. Folk who could be earning half a million annually working three days a week go to Utah and earn 75k.
The tooth fairy economy is about to face an inflation crisis.
Up next in Utah, higher dental insurance premiums, copays, and deductibles.
- Or not even cover it all
They should put lead back into gasoline as well, while they're at it...and asbestos in a baby powder.
I've seen this parks and rec episode
Slaps dental premiums this baby is going places!
Children's ice cream, Mandrake!
- They're just protecting their precious bodily fluids
When I was younger, I was confused as to why fluoride was in water, since we would receive regular fluoride tablets in grade school. I’m sure not every school does that…
Sadly, this is unlikely to lead to the death of people, so it won't be reverted in a week, but have long lasting effects. I guess it's not a problem as long as there's a decent health infrastructure to hold up the increased issues, right?
- Uh, yeah. About that last part...
Somewhere there's a cabal of dentists sitting around a table in a dark and shadowy room cackling madly
DōTerra probably also behind this to an extent. Gotta find new ways to sell "essential" oils.
I think I'm well past the point of caring if a bunch of conservative's teeth fall out.
As for those living there that are smarter than their conservative neighbors, honestly, we're heading toward a future in this country where you may actually need to move to a blue state to have a decent future. Sorry.
this is just sad
To finally stop the conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.
Dentists’ wet dream.
The (d/m)ental decline in the US is real...
Dan Halen is ecstatic 14 years later
https://youtu.be/2BlJRtsQrgo
Uh, here in Oregon it's already been banned for a long time. This headline is sus.
- The difference is in verbiage. Oregon doesn't require it, but Oregon also doesn't ban it and leaves it up to municipalities. Utah is trying to actively force municipalities to not be allowed to use it.
  
  Ah makes sense.
- It isn't banned in Oregon. Many communities have simply decided not to do it. Hillsboro recently voted to stop fluoridating their water, for example.
  This would be the first time an entire state has literally banned the practice.
  And it's stupid. There are maps of the US that show which states have the lowest/highest rates of dental caries. The states with the lowest rates just happen to have mandatory water fluoridation, and the states with the lowest rates of fluoridation all have the worst dental health. Meanwhile there's zero evidence that drinking fluoridated water has negative health effects.
  
  Wanna add that Columbia County has fluorinated and chlorinated water.
  
  Ah gotcha. And yeah I agree it's dumb to not fluoridate our water but toothpaste companies need to be able to upcharge on extra fluoride toothpaste and dentists need work right? /s
Get some baking soda toothpaste and some fluoride rinse and you’ll be okay.
- What's the point of baking soda toothpaste if you're going to use fluoride rinse anyway
Obviously fluorinated water is fine but having never grown up with it, it seems kind of unecessary. Maybe stop shoving sugary food and drinks in everyone's faces would have a better impact?
- This is anecdotal.
  Public health management isn't really the same as making health related decisions for yourself and your family.
  As a public health measure fluoridation of water is an undeniable success. It has reduced the incidence of dental cavities by about a third, with better results in rural and poorer demographics.
  
  While I understand that it’s a useful, effective measure, I’m amazed that it’s needed at all. Most of Europe, despite having a comparable or on paper lower wealth status, has never heard of this as far as I can tell, and the introduction of the practice isn’t being discussed. What gives the US needs it?
  
  So rural and poor communities dont have access to healthier options or proper dental care and the solution your country picked was to put fluoride in the water instead of trying to actually support the poor.
  What a country.
- This is more targeted towards the poorest and least educated of the community. Eating healthy and having a stable home with healthy habits is expensive.

93 comments