3d ago

RFK Jr.’s fluoride ban would ruin 25 million kids’ teeth, cost $9.8 billion

Once hailed as a triumph of public health, water fluoridation is now under intense attack in the US.

Despite decades of data proving its efficacy at protecting teeth from decay—particularly children's teeth—two states have now banned the use of fluoride in public water, and communities around the country have followed suit or are considering doing the same. The current US health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is known for his anti-vaccine advocacy and for peddling conspiracy theories, has pledged to remove fluoride from US water.

United States | News & Politics @midwest.social

Sunshine (she/her) @lemmy.ca

3d ago

RFK Jr.’s fluoride ban would ruin 25 million kids’ teeth, cost $9.8 billion

arstechnica.com /health/2025/05/rfk-jr-s-fluoride-ban-would-ruin-25-million-kids-teeth-cost-9-8-billion/

44 comments

I grew up drinking unfluoridated water (my family still has no access to municipal water) and have had dental problems all my life. Probably not the only reason, but I’m sure it didn’t help. These kids are in for literal and financial pain.
- Hurting kids is a great conservative pastime despite how much time they spend thinking of the children.
  
  Education, healthcare, social safety nets, school lunches...It's pretty much conservatives punching children while saying "stop punching yourself," the whole way down.
- In the Netherlands we stopped adding fluoride to the drinking water decades ago, amongst others because of a dramatic increase in reported migraines and bowel issues during the period we did add it. Stopping fluoridation didn't cause any dental Armageddon, so it is definitely possible to get rid of it without adverse effects.
  However, and here lies the issue I suspect, we actually have decent dental care, brushing your teeth is ingrained from early on and almost every toothpaste contains fluoride.
  
  I don't think it's common at all in Europe, yet people still have teeth.
  
  Yep, although not as white but that's because we're not massive fans of all these whitening stuff.
  
  wp:Water fluoridation by country#Europe
  Out of a population of about three-quarters of a billion, under 14 million people (approximately 2%) in Europe receive artificially-fluoridated water. Those people are in the UK (5,797,000), Republic of Ireland (4,780,000), Spain (4,250,000), and Serbia (300,000).[27]
  ...
  Many European countries have rejected water fluoridation, including: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland,[68] Scotland,[69] Iceland, and Italy.[70] A 2003 survey of over 500 Europeans from 16 countries concluded that "the vast majority of people opposed water fluoridation".[71]
  
  Your population is probably just smart enough to brush their teeth

44 comments