Fluoride in tap water

by **nietzsche** on Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:24 am

Not sure if this has already been discussed here, did a quick search and didn't found a thread for it.

Does anyone really knows anything about it? Is it true that we are sacrificing a lot in order to have pretty teeth?

I've read a bit about it, but not sure if it's really backed up by hard science or it's just a conspiracy theory...

What do you think?

by **TA1LGUNN3R** on Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:27 am

That makes paper mache.

-TG

by / on Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:38 am

Flour in your tap water is a practice backed by hard medical science. The grain forms a link with the harvest goddess to inject divine power directly into your teeth.

Fluoride on the other hand is an evil plot by the communists to destroy us, just like curing polio.

by **oVo** on Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:59 am

Fluoridated water was not a bad idea when it was initiated
long ago, but there are many products out there that also
include fluoride now. Too much fluoride is a problem...
and it's probably Obama's fault.

Of course now there is an abundance of bottled water, also
known as "dead water", with all it's trace minerals removed
which is also problematic... and probably Obama's fault too.

by **nietzsche** on Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:20 pm

bastards

by **Funkyterrance** on Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:24 pm

Yeah that makes more sense.

by **waauw** on Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:36 pm

too much fluoride apparently makes people dumber, and I'm inclined to believe that

by **Funkyterrance** on Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:50 pm

I had to write a paper on the subject in school and from what I remember they started putting fluoride in the water supply on behalf of all the poor people who couldn't afford to buy toothpaste or something to that effect. A lot of scientists believe that it's long term affects when ingested are detrimental but in the short term it's relatively safe so many cities continue to do it. Tap water in general isn't really very good for you anyway though since a lot of it contains contaminants from pipes and chlorine(really not good for you) as well as fluoride.
Out where I live we all have private artesian wells though which you generally get tested for contaminants every year or so. The well that I drink from is very clean/safe but has a high amount of sulpher so it smells a little of eggs and tends to cause some build-up in pipes from what I understand. I think it tastes great though!

I've visited the city and drank from fountains and such of course but I thought the water tasted like the public pool. Bottled water tastes like plastic to me. Nasty.

by **warmonger1981** on Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:29 pm

Supposedly Harvard came out with a study saying Fluoride is bad. Our bodies need small amounts of Calcium Flouride but there are different types of Flouride. I also hear it is bad for us. I also heard Europe does not Flouridate their water. That's all I can say about it.

by **waauw** on Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:27 am

warmonger1981 wrote:Supposedly Harvard came out with a study saying Fluoride is bad. Our bodies need small amounts of Calcium Flouride but there are different types of Flouride. I also hear it is bad for us. I also heard Europe does not Flouridate their water. That's all I can say about it.

In europe it depends from country to country. Belgium and the Netherlands don't fluoridate, but Ireland and Spain do.
Here we use chlorine, which oxidates as soon as it's spit out of the tap.

by **Funkyterrance** on Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:53 am

waauw wrote:Here we use chlorine, which oxidates as soon as it's spit out of the tap.

I did not know that. That may explain why I didn't get an "A" on my paper.

by **Lootifer** on Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:54 am

Yeah flouride is bad for you... but remember oxygen is a carcinogen.

Best you stop breathing if you dont want to die.

And seriously americans teeth are their best attribute, lets not take that away from them!

by **PLAYER57832** on Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:15 am

nietzsche wrote:Not sure if this has already been discussed here, did a quick search and didn't found a thread for it.

It was brought up in a couple of other threads, though perhaps not a single thread on its own.

nietzsche wrote:Does anyone really knows anything about it? Is it true that we are sacrificing a lot in order to have pretty teeth?

The health of people's teeth has significantly increased. It seems to have been a good, cost-effective decision at the time. However, now people brush their teeth more and can obtain flouride in other forms. With more and more people recently buying water in bottles instead of the much cheaper tap water, problems have begun to creep up again, but that can be combated by other types of fluoride use.

nietzsche wrote:I've read a bit about it, but not sure if it's really backed up by hard science or it's just a conspiracy theory...

What do you think?

You will find a lot of both. As a general rule, too often the first page or two of most "google" searches are mostly garbage, but if you take the time to verify sources, you can find the real science.

Flouride has absolutely resulted in better teeth, which results in better overall health in many ways. (its not just about looking pretty by any means). However, how much and whether municipal additions are currently the best way to do it is another question, and a complicated one.

When it comes to any public decision, its not just a matter of if something will or will not cause harm, because almost anything will, particularly given unlimited levels and time. I mean, you can be "poisoned" by drinking too much water, but we die pretty quickly without it! The question is whether the good significantly outweighs the harm. In the case of fluoride, things have changed a lot. It was a good decision to add it to water, but is could be that something like fluoride rinses in school (which they do in some parts of Scandinavia) or even giving supplements to some people might be better than adding it to all water.