Ancestors

Written by just adrienne on 2025-01-03 at 03:44

I am not kidding when i say that fluoridated water is up there with vaccines as one of the most important public health interventions developed in the 20th century.

People don't think of dental caries as a serious health risk, but tooth decay can cause deadly infections and raises the risk of stroke and heart attack, including in children. Tooth decay is also a MAJOR contributor to chronic malnutrition in both children and low-income adults.

And the thing is, it is a public health intervention that benefits the poor and marginalized disproportionately! (People living in poverty are the least likely to be able to regularly brush their teeth, among other things.) Which means it's DEFINITELY on the fucking chopping block for EVERYONE.

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Written by just adrienne on 2025-01-03 at 04:02

(Yes, overdoses of fluoride are a health risk, including if a water treatment plant goes haywire and it's not detected for weeks or months. But that is a pretty minor risk, and VASTLY less risky overall than the danger of children getting deadly respiratory and/or cardiac infections and being chronically undernourished!)

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Toot

Written by just adrienne on 2025-01-03 at 04:45

Like, it's not JUST tooth decay, although that is a big enough deal; ALL-CAUSE CHILD MORTALITY goes down in places with fluoridated water! Because S. mutans infections DO NOT ALWAYS STAY IN YOUR TEETH!

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Descendants

Written by : j@fabrica:~/src; :t_blink: on 2025-01-03 at 05:16

@adrienne Have you heard the studies linking poor dental health to Alzheimer’s? People have no idea the impact on the immune system that weak dental health can have. Presumably because most people’s moms didn’t teach dental hygienists about the range of oral infectious disease.

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Written by just adrienne on 2025-01-03 at 05:24

@josephholsten I haven't, but it doesn't surprise me. The primary bacterium that causes caries is a Streptococcus species (S. mutans), and strep is NASTY shit.

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