If you’re anything like me, you have probably given only limited thought to the fluoride in your tap water. You probably have some vague idea that it’s there and that it relates to your dental health. But community water fluoridation is a fairly controversial practice. Some cities (Portland, Oregon, for example) have blocked the introduction of fluoride, and numerous advocacy groups call for its elimination all together.
Those who support water fluoridation — a group that includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatricsand the American Dental Association, among others — say it is a safe, effective way to improve dental health. The CDC even highlights it as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century.
Opponents disagree, to put it mildly. One central objection relates to a general distrust of government and concern about forced “medication” of the population. One does not need to go too far down a list of Google hits on “fluoride in water” to find an article that suggests water fluoridation is a mind control system derived from Nazi research. Needless to say, there is no evidence that fluoride can be used for mind control. (Of course, that is what I would say if I were under mind control, so it’s a difficult case to disprove.)
But the more concrete objections relate to a concern that the benefits of fluoride are not very large given its potential health risks — reductions in IQ and increased risk of cancer, among other things.
Community Guidelines
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