New Pediatric Dental Recommendations Will Make The Anti-Fluoride Crowd Lose Their Minds

scared-kid-at-the-dentistThe American Academy of Pediatrics has come out with a new recommendation that reverses their long-standing stance on fluoride use: now, regardless of how much risk a child has of cavities, they should start getting fluoridated toothpaste at six months of age. I don’t know about you, but not using up the fluoride-free toothpaste I’ve been using on my kids is almost worth the forthcoming shit-storm that’s surely brewing among the anti-fluoride crowd.

The new recommendations come with caveats and limitations. Of course you can’t shove a grown-up-sized dollop of toothpaste into your toddler’s gaping maw, and you still shouldn’t use over-the-counter fluoride rinses on your baby, who can’t spit them back out. Fluorosis (overexposure to fluorine) is a real dental problem, too. Of course if you get too much fluorine, you’ll have health consequences to deal with – but so will you if you have too much iron, too much vitamin D, or even too much water. Anyone want to cut any of those things out of their diet completely?

Rates of cavities are increasing in the diapers-and-crayons crowd for unclear reasons: too many sweets (including fruits)? Parents forgetting to brush their little ones’ teeth before bedtime? The use of bottled or filtered water instead of the straight-from-the-tap variety? Who knows, but if a tiny smear of toothpaste a couple of times a day can help to head this problem off, I’m all for it. But I have a hunch that this isn’t a sentiment shared by the rest of the world, or at least not the part that takes a certain scene in Dr. Strangelove a little too seriously.

Previous Mommyish stories about fluoridated toothpaste have shown that people have some strong feelings on the subject (but not a lot of strong facts to back those feelings up):

You’re the only person on here that understands the true point. The true point of fluoride is a spiritual war on our minds, it is designed to ruin our ability to spiritually awaken, by damaging the spiritual gland called the Pineal gland, which is known by all religious groups to be the “seat of the soul.” Fluoride has nothing to do with teeth. Fluoride also kills us quickly, by shortening our life span, because the Pineal gland regulates your life span.

I actually cannot argue with that, because there is nothing reasonable enough to argue against. (Or maybe I just can’t formulate an argument because my pineal gland is too spiritually battered by years of oral hygiene.) Sorry, anti-fluoridaters, but researchers say that a little fluoride goes a long way toward healthy teeth, and your insistence that a little research at Google University trumps peer-reviewed science falls awfully flat. I’d suggest that maybe the anti-vaxxers would have some words of comfort for you, but you and they are probably one and the same.

Sadly I have too much to get done to start day drinking already, but if your afternoon is looking clear, please enjoy the comments section below once Google Alerts start to hit for a game of anti-fluoride bingo on me:

anti-fluoride-bingo

(Image: Marius Pirvu / Shutterstock)

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