The truth about fluoride
Fluoride is present in dental products such as toothpaste, protecting teeth from cavities and preventing bacteria in the mouth. It is also added to public water supplies.
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Deforest – Last November, Public Works in the village of Deforest observed a problem.
The pumps that delivered fluoride to the supply of drinking water of the village showed signs of wear. They asked the village officials if their replacement was necessary, given the growing discussion over the dangers and benefits of water fluoridation.
“I don’t think they knew that at this point the storm that was going to happen to ask this question,” said village President Jane Cahill Wolfgram.
During the months that followed, the Madison suburb about 11,000 became the last community of Wisconsin to be scanned in what has become a national dispute over fluoride, which helps to stop the early tooth decay Putting minerals back to the tooth enamel.
US adds fluoride to drinking water Since 1945and top medical and dental groups, including control and disease prevention centers American Academy of Pediatrics and the American dental union Say it is safe and effective. CDC calls it one of the 10 largest 20th -century public health achievements.
But anti-funerary activists have for decades have argued that they are toxic and show it recent survey This found a correlation between higher levels of fluoride and neurodevelopmental issues in children as inquisitive evidence. They also have the support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Who could become the health secretary of the nation under Trump’s administration and suggested removal of fluoride by US water supply.
Forest officials voted on February 4-3 to remove fluoride from their drinking water, releasing nearly 80 Wisconsin municipalities that have moved to stop it, according to data from the State Ministry of Natural Resources. As elsewhere, the discussion exposes a rupture between public health and personal choice.
The majority of people who spoke at a public hearing of January asked the Board of Directors to keep the water fluoridized, including the Emily Waide.
“Deforest should not be a place where unfounded theories are tested to see what is happening,” he said.
Critics receive steam in long -term fluoride conversation
When Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city in the US to add fluoride to her waterChildren from school age began to experience dramatic reductions in cavities compared to children in the surrounding areas. Around this time, dental decomposition was a major public health problem – an amazing 50% of adults The ages 65 to 74 in the 1960s had lost all their natural teeth.
By 2022, more than 70% of US population served by Community water systems had fluoridated water – including About 85% of wisconsinites drinking from a community water system. Investigations show that Reduces cavities by about 25%.
Fluoride in higher doses has well -documented consequences. Dental fluoridation or staining of tooth enamel can occur when young children get excessive fluoride. Skeletal fluorization, which is rare in the US, but more common in other parts of the world, causes bone and joint problems.
In 2015, US Public Health Service reduced the recommended fluoride concentration for Community water systems from 1.2 mg/l to 0.7 mg/l to provide “the best dental protection balance (cavities), limiting the risk of dental fluorization”.
But newer research caused an alarm for other negative effects – in particular August 2024 report From the National Toxicology Program of the Nation that had a relationship between 1.5 mg/L levels and reduced IQS to children. A federal judge in California reported the report In a decision last fall This ordered the US Environmental Protection Service to take action on such concerns about fluoride.
Specifically, toxicology report does not determine the causal relevance, did not include data from the US and examined fluoride levels more than twice as high as in the current water supply. Medical experts have doubts on the reliability and application of exposure to US water supply, especially because its authors wrote that he is not addressed Whether the level of fluoride added to US drinking water is associated with changes in IQ.
Still, the exhibition has become a key factor in many local talks on fluoride.
If there is “some truth” in this, sheila Howe, a resident who spoke as opposed to fluoride at the January public hearing, “must be stopped, 100 percent”.
The increasing number of wisconsin communities ends with fluoride
Seventy-eight Wisconsin communities, including Deforest, have discontinued fluoride therapy in their water, show DNR-and about 38% of them have done so by 2020. Milwaukee still adds fluoride to his waterlike Almost all public water systems in the county. Some smaller villages nearby, such as Sussex; Hartland and Mukigohave chosen to take it out.
In some communities, it has been argued that the elimination of fluoride is a cost savings move In response to the DNR requirements that the fluoride is stored separately from the chlorine. Others have noted that handling fluoride by public works personnel may be dangerous without the appropriate protective equipment or that supplementary sources of fluoride, such as toothpaste or of course in groundwater, should be enough to protect the teeth.
But for many, the decision revolves around the growing tide of personal choice on health.
“We should always honor” No “, said the administrative commander of the Court of Justice Taysheedra Allen, as the Board of Directors voted for the matter.” If someone says they don’t want something, they should not be forced to have it. “
Patrick Remington, a peer professor at the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, who began his CDC career, said that some who oppose fluoride due to his risks do not weigh them against the benefits of people every day when choosing a car.
The benefits of fluoride are clear: less tooth decay, Remington said, while science does not yet show neurodevelopmental problems for children who consume fluoride at the level of US water supply.
Showed one 2022 Study of cavities in school children In the Canadian city of Calgari, which ended the Community fluorization of water in 2011. Researchers found that the prevalence of the cavities was “significantly higher” in these children than in another Canadian city that continued to fluent in water.
Removal can also lead to health inequalities between people different levels of income.
“People who are well -informed and have excellent access to a dentist can get all the information” on how to complete fluoride as soon as they are no longer added to their water, Remington said. “People who are not so lucky will stay without knowing.”
Part of the issue: Don’t remember what was before fluoridation
Cahill Wolfgram, who voted to maintain the water of the fluoride DeForest, said residents have already come in contact with Russian if the village will provide an alternative now to be removed.
“As far as I would like to believe that the matter is happening, because it is very divisive, I don’t think the matter has yet been done,” he said.
This seems true to the whole country. Bills move on to a handful of states In order to abolish fluoride commands in larger cities and with Kennedy on a good track to secure the candidacy for the Health Secretary, he could continue to be a national speech. Dr. Tom Reid, president of the Wisconsin Dental Union, has previously told Sentinel magazine that Kennedy’s proposal to reduce fluoride “scares” us because of his possible effects on people without access to dentists.
Dominique Brossard, president of the Life’s Communication of the UW-Madison, who studies public opinion on controversial scientific issues, said that science on fluoride is complex and evolving and “fully evaluating the advantages and disadvantages for specific communities”. He noted that several countries in Europe do not fluctuate their water – although many European countries provide free or heavy reduced dental care to all citizens Through National Health Insurance.
Remington said it would be prudent for the US to conduct a comprehensive risk-benefit analysis of fluoride in drinking water done by a non-profit body such as the National Academy of Sciences. He also said that local education could help people, especially the parents of infants and young children, understand how fluoride they get from different sources. CDC maintains a list with which communities fluctuate their water, which can be found nccd.cdc.gov/doh_mwf/default/DEFAULT.ASPX.
As people still consider fluoridation, Remington said it is important to recognize that the US is now decades that are moving away from the public health problem that has pushed it in the first place and people may not fully remember what it is.
This applies to other sciences that have become controversial, as he said, such as vaccines for diseases that can be prevented.
“Unless you really understand how disabled is to have a whole generation of people without teeth. You do not recognize the damage to fluoridated water,” he said. “If your experience does not include these damage, you will underestimate them.”
Madeline Heim is a Report on America The Corps journalist who writes about environmental issues in the River Mississippi River and all over Wisconsin. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or mheim@gannett.com.
This story was informed to add a video.
