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Is Fluoride Harming Your Body While Helping Your Teeth?
RFK Jr. wants it out of your water. Dental stocks soar. Here’s the actual science.
In the early 20th century, a Colorado dentist named Frederick McKay started noticing an unusual brown stain on the teeth of some of his patients. Those stained teeth were less vulnerable to cavities compared to non-stained ones. The town’s water supply had natural fluoride in it and we now know that the stains are called dental fluorosis.
In 1945, several cities in the United States started to trial water fluoridation and it led to a 50–75% reduction in cavities and tooth decay over the next 10–15 year period. These kinds of remarkable results led to the country-wide fluoridation efforts starting in 1962. The benefits for tooth health continue to this day. The CDC called water fluoridation one of the ten biggest public health accomplishments of the 20th century.
Unfortunately the nominated future head of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., doesn’t seem to be into public health accomplishments. His position on vaccines, #1 on the list, is all too clear. Just like vaccines, he feels that fluoride’s harms should be explained to the public.
Not the benefits, just the harms.
