signalmankenneth
Verified User
I hope the senate vote's no to this crackpot RFK Jr. for HHS?!!
Our next potential leader of US health policy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, wants to ban adding fluoride to public drinking water — a practice that experts agree has remarkably elevated teeth health for millions of Americans at little cost.
In a country where many people don't have access to dental care, a widespread crackdown on this naturally occurring mineral could be a disaster. To see how, we turn to the sobering case of Juneau, a city in Alaska that voted to stop fluoridating its water in 2007, citing many of the same fears that RFK touts today.
In a 2018 study published in the journal BMC Oral Health, researchers examined the dental records of adolescents in the Alaska community who sought Medicaid dental care in the years surrounding either side of the ban.
They divided them into two treatment groups: a 2003 group, when public drinking water had optimal levels of fluoride, and a 2012 group, well after the fluoride ban.
The results were damning. On average, the 2012 group had a significantly higher number of cavity-related procedures for adolescents than the 2003 group. Similarly, the odds of someone 18 years-old or younger undergoing the same type of procedure was 25 percent higher in 2012.
Children born after the fluoride ban were the hardest hit age group, receiving not only the most tooth decay treatments, but also having the most expensive treatments on average.
Additionally on the economic side of things, the researchers found that dental care costs for adolescents soared by 73 percent as a result of the fluoride policy, even after adjusting for inflation. In sum, it seems clear cut that removing fluoride caused tooth rot to surge — and with it, medical costs.
Today, nearly three-quarters of the US population has access to fluoridated water, reducing tooth decay in children and adults by an estimated 25 percent. The US Centers for Disease Control has hailed fluoridation as one of the top ten greatest public health interventions in history.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/took-fluoride-water-rfk-jr-120017664.html
Our next potential leader of US health policy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, wants to ban adding fluoride to public drinking water — a practice that experts agree has remarkably elevated teeth health for millions of Americans at little cost.
In a country where many people don't have access to dental care, a widespread crackdown on this naturally occurring mineral could be a disaster. To see how, we turn to the sobering case of Juneau, a city in Alaska that voted to stop fluoridating its water in 2007, citing many of the same fears that RFK touts today.
In a 2018 study published in the journal BMC Oral Health, researchers examined the dental records of adolescents in the Alaska community who sought Medicaid dental care in the years surrounding either side of the ban.
They divided them into two treatment groups: a 2003 group, when public drinking water had optimal levels of fluoride, and a 2012 group, well after the fluoride ban.
The results were damning. On average, the 2012 group had a significantly higher number of cavity-related procedures for adolescents than the 2003 group. Similarly, the odds of someone 18 years-old or younger undergoing the same type of procedure was 25 percent higher in 2012.
Children born after the fluoride ban were the hardest hit age group, receiving not only the most tooth decay treatments, but also having the most expensive treatments on average.
Additionally on the economic side of things, the researchers found that dental care costs for adolescents soared by 73 percent as a result of the fluoride policy, even after adjusting for inflation. In sum, it seems clear cut that removing fluoride caused tooth rot to surge — and with it, medical costs.
Today, nearly three-quarters of the US population has access to fluoridated water, reducing tooth decay in children and adults by an estimated 25 percent. The US Centers for Disease Control has hailed fluoridation as one of the top ten greatest public health interventions in history.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/took-fluoride-water-rfk-jr-120017664.html
