this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2025
393 points (98.5% liked)

News

25665 readers
3788 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

AI Summary:

  • Utah is poised to ban fluoride in public water systems, pending the governor's signature.
  • The bill prohibits adding fluoride to public water and repeals previous related laws.
  • Federal health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized fluoride, influencing the bill.
  • Studies on fluoride’s impact on children's IQ have mixed results, with some showing negative effects and others showing no harm.
  • Major public health groups support fluoridation for dental health benefits.
  • The anti-fluoridation movement has gained popularity post-Covid-19.
  • Similar legislation is proposed in Florida, emphasizing the importance of consent in public health measures.
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago

They should put lead back into gasoline as well, while they're at it...and asbestos in a baby powder.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Want job security? Become a dentist

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago

When I was younger, I was confused as to why fluoride was in water, since we would receive regular fluoride tablets in grade school. I’m sure not every school does that…

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The tooth fairy economy is about to face an inflation crisis.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

Slaps dental premiums this baby is going places!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Somewhere there's a cabal of dentists sitting around a table in a dark and shadowy room cackling madly

[–] [email protected] 42 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Want to see what happens when you do this?

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/childrens-headline-indicators/contents/indicator-7

Notice the two states with the highest rates of dental decay are Queensland and Northern Territory?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation_in_Australia

Yeah, those states didn't get flouride in their water until around 2012.

Such a coincidence...

It's also completely silly because many places have naturally fluoridated water!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Yes but what about all the autism. Or mind controlling. Or whatever the hell it is that fluoride is evil for?

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 183 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Dental issues increased in Calgary and they voted to put it back.

[–] [email protected] 86 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This is the way. The idiots have been coddled for generations. They need to have the experience of their teeth rotting out for themselves.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 days ago (9 children)

And what about the other 49% they dragged down with them? You've also just made everyone's dental insurance 10x more expensive. Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 days ago

If you needed one last excuse to get out of Utah, then let this be it.

load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 45 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Oh for fuck's sake, how many times does this bullshit have to be debunked?!

Here's a paper that puts this nonsense to rest.

And if that's too "elitist" for you here's not one but two Youtube videos.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

People are going to be whining about cavities, in fact people who went flouride free toothpaste and complained they got cavities and blamed in on the effectiveness of the toothpaste

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

It's because critical thinking is a dead skill in this country.

We have essentially trained an entire generation to not rely on critical thinking skills anymore. And apparently in the process of graduating a second generation of the same.

It is the plot of Idiocracy. Where the people don't even understand the things that affect them on a day-to-day basis they just know that "it's what plants crave"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Curious if anyone can weigh in on this - is there much benefit to having fluorinated drinking water if you brush twice a day with fluorinated toothpaste and rinse with flourinated mouthwash?

I distill all my drinking water, but it's to remove PFAS and all the other garbage we've polluted the earth with. Not because of flouride.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My understanding is the most benefit is to children whose teeth are still growing, then secondarily to adults who have substandard dental hygiene. An otherwise healthy adult with good dental care routines is the least impactful case.

Going off on the tangent of distilled water: distilled water can reduce overall minerals in the diet. From WebMD https://www.webmd.com/diet/distilled-water-overview

Distilled water lacks even electrolytes like potassium and other minerals your body needs. So you may miss out on a bit of these micronutrients if you drink only the distilled stuff. Some studies have found a link between drinking water low in calcium and magnesium and tiredness, muscle cramps, weakness, and heart disease

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

I think I'm well past the point of caring if a bunch of conservative's teeth fall out.

As for those living there that are smarter than their conservative neighbors, honestly, we're heading toward a future in this country where you may actually need to move to a blue state to have a decent future. Sorry.

[–] [email protected] 101 points 2 days ago (2 children)

next up (unless it happened first): no more data collection or research about statewide dental health

[–] [email protected] 37 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Insurance companies will still collect it since they need to pay out for a lot of this shit. We’ll also be able to quantify this impact by looking at dental premiums and copays. They’ll eventually go up in states without fluoridated water.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 52 points 2 days ago (5 children)

Utah poised to overtake UK as butt of bad teeth jokes.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 days ago

RFK Jr. has criticized fluoride

Yeah see, that right there is the only thing you really need to see that the ban is a bad idea.

[–] Kanzar 45 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (7 children)

Dentists in ~~Florida~~ Utah: yesssss thanks for the increased business!

[–] phdepressed 67 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The Utah dental association was strongly against it. Dentists already make good money and most of them actually care about their patients health.

Dental health is also strongly correlated with cardiovascular disease and other diseases.

[–] Kanzar 19 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Yeah I'm in dental myself (another country), and when anti-fluoride patients come in, we generally sassily remark that we thank them for keeping us in business. Bit of dark humour to see the silver lining in things, I guess?

There have certainly been dental clinics going out of business in the last few years, something quite unheard of - unlike other 'new businesses', the success rate of opening a new dental clinic was normally guaranteed (unlike say a new cafe).

If the general population want to remove one of the best public health initiatives, then so be it. We'll make hay while the sun shines.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Shit; the serial killer sympathizers, racist, cousin fuckers, are about to add this to the list

Sorry to all my brits, I know this hits home.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

To be fair, you can have more cavities and still not eat rocks

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sadly, this is unlikely to lead to the death of people, so it won't be reverted in a week, but have long lasting effects. I guess it's not a problem as long as there's a decent health infrastructure to hold up the increased issues, right?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Uh, yeah. About that last part...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

In a few years americans will be known for their bad teeth like the English are now

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago

I've seen this parks and rec episode

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

The (d/m)ental decline in the US is real...

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There’s Swig all over the place in Utah… it’s literally liquified sugar. The dentists in that state are going to have an absolutely stellar future as their customers increase.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›