SO dentists/flouride... crunchies and non-crunchies come in!

[devotchka]

We were weighing the pros and cons of doing a flouride treatment before the age of 2 for Max. I had terrible teeth as a kid and don't want him to go through that. On one hand, he will probably have a hard time "sitting" for the dentist (as I mentioned in a previous thread) but on the other, it might save him from a lot of pain and trauma in his childhood. I honestly am still traumatized by the dentist and have a very hard time going. It's one of my few phobias and it all stems from childhood and bad experiences at the dentist - due to cavities! Well I also imagine that in the former Soviet Union, they weren't up on the latest "painless" dentistry techniques either... 

So - I'm wondering what the big deal about flouride is. Why are crunchies against it? Is it just because it's in the water supply and "untested" in terms of long term safety? Edumacate me please.

If it matters, I guess I would consider us semi-crunchies so we do have a healthy sense of skepticism but really just want the best for the kiddo's health ;-) H is a scientist and so is the rest of my family so we like research.

Hilariously, my (half - in Russia - ) sister is a dentist, she is pretty traditional in general and I am afraid if I ask her this question she will kill me (with her words!)  

[DesertMoon]

A girl in my class who actually is a big conspiracy theorist believe that fluoride is so bad for you, she even wrote a paper on it. The only thing I've ever heard that too much fluoride does, that has any decent studies behind it is calcium spotting on the teeth, which is not exactly dangerous, maybe a little unsightly...but NBD. I think if you find it necessary I see no reason why you shouldn't do it.

[devotchka]

Aug 31, 2013 0:27:07 GMT -5 DesertMoon said:

A girl in my class who actually is a big conspiracy theorist believe that fluoride is so bad for you, she even wrote a paper on it. The only thing I've ever heard that too much fluoride does, that has any decent studies behind it is calcium spotting on the teeth, which is not exactly dangerous, maybe a little unsightly...but NBD. I think if you find it necessary I see no reason why you shouldn't do it.

Out of curiosity, I kind of want to see that paper

[DesertMoon]

Aug 31, 2013 0:29:31 GMT -5 devotchka said:

Aug 31, 2013 0:27:07 GMT -5 DesertMoon said:

A girl in my class who actually is a big conspiracy theorist believe that fluoride is so bad for you, she even wrote a paper on it. The only thing I've ever heard that too much fluoride does, that has any decent studies behind it is calcium spotting on the teeth, which is not exactly dangerous, maybe a little unsightly...but NBD. I think if you find it necessary I see no reason why you shouldn't do it.

Out of curiosity, I kind of want to see that paper

Lol ill fb her...it might be a little wild though!

[jaime183]

I thought that they were just against it bc then it wasn't a choice- they wanted to be able to decide for themselves- but maybe I'm missing the real argument
It was a huge debate here bc the city doesn't have fluoride in the water but the suburbs do

[kkfeb04]

We don't have flouride in our water. I pay extra to get flouride treatments at my cleanings every 4 months. I had a ton of cavities when I went back to the dentist (no dental care as a kid) so that is my treatment plan. It keeps the cavities away. I also use prevident toothpaste. When Kalvin can sit for a cleaning (we attempted twice now) he will get flouride as will Katelyn.

I consider myself a semi-crunch. I love modern medicine too.

[katfco]

The reasons vary from the "oh I can understand that" to the "get the butterfly net" territory. The sane reason is that it's seen as forced medication. People can't consent to it if it's already in their water.

A friend of mine is in the butterfly net territory. She sincerely believes there is a communist conspiracy in our country. I don't know if she ever read this website, but she would agree wholeheartedly: www.informationliberation.com/?id=14949

Essentially, it says fluoride is not beneficial, very harmful, and only forced on us because of greedy industries.

[mscatra]

Aug 31, 2013 0:27:07 GMT -5 DesertMoon said:

A girl in my class who actually is a big conspiracy theorist believe that fluoride is so bad for you, she even wrote a paper on it. The only thing I've ever heard that too much fluoride does, that has any decent studies behind it is calcium spotting on the teeth, which is not exactly dangerous, maybe a little unsightly...but NBD. I think if you find it necessary I see no reason why you shouldn't do it.

Really?  I've never heard of this before.  I have very mild spotting on my teeth, and my younger brother has more dramatic spotting.  I took good care of my teeth as a child and had fluoride treatments, but started my dental visits somewhat late.  I thought the deposits were sometimes caused by lack of fluoride during teeth formation.  Any study links?

[dixeedeluxe]

Truth is, people who are against it don't care about poor people. Easily googleable if you want to take a look.

But that's not what you asked.

Anyway, I took edie to the dentist and they gave her millions of prizes amd ao much posi attention!

Way different than my experience growing up.

[monkeybabe]

Aug 31, 2013 14:42:09 GMT -5 dixeedeluxe said:

Truth is, people who are against it don't care about poor people. Easily googleable if you want to take a look.

But that's not what you asked.

Anyway, I took edie to the dentist and they gave her millions of prizes amd ao much posi attention!

Way different than my experience growing up.

I care about poor people and I still don't want fluoride in Portland's water. Portland public schools give kids daily fluoride tablets at no cost, so long as parents don't object.

ETA: I'm aware that this doesn't help poor adults.

[devotchka]

So - we just use a brita and it filters out flouride. It also filters out a bunch of other crap from our water (which is really nasty from the tap btw, one of the grossest waters in the country from what I've tasted so I would filter it either way) , and from what I understand that's enough, no? You can always get a reverse osmosis filter to really clean your water. It's pricey though, but I've wanted one for a while, maybe when we buy our own home!

[monkeybabe]

Portland has fantastic tap water. When I lived in California, we always filtered our water and, now, I go visit family in California and forget that straight out of the tap tastes awful.

[devotchka]

Aug 31, 2013 15:06:35 GMT -5 monkeybabe said:

Portland has fantastic tap water. When I lived in California, we always filtered our water and, now, I go visit family in California and forget that straight out of the tap tastes awful.

It's not crap everywhere in CA, mostly So Cal in my experience. When I lived in the bay area tap water tasted pretty good.