Fluoride: Good or Bad?

Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo has joined Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in opposition to fluoride in the water supply. Dr. Ladapo cites controversial studies that claim the additive poses a risk to developing brains.

I shall resist the temptation to draw a link between such studies and our politicians.

The Washington Post reports: “Despite the identification of a new chemical and the presence of an old chemical, fluoride, in drinking water, experts said most tap water is safe to drink.”

“Experts” have been on both sides of so many things over the years it is difficult to know whom to trust. A Wall Street Journal story says red wine, once thought to be good for the heart, is now said to be bad for you, along with all alcohol, even in moderation. It looks like those beer ads will have to revise their “drink responsibly” disclaimers. Trying to discern what is bad or good for you is enough to drive one to drink.

In the ’50s when fluoride was introduced into the public water supply and later toothpaste as part of a health and anti-cavity campaign, it was strongly endorsed by medical, dental and public health organizations in the United States and Canada. Extreme right-wing conspiracy groups like The John Birch Society claimed fluoride was a plot by the communists to kill us and steal our women (I made up that last part, but not by much). It reminds me of the character in ” Dr. Strangelove,” delightfully named Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) who was obsessed by what he referred to as “our vital bodily fluids.”

Here is one of my favorite exchanges in the film, which I quote only to demonstrate that conspiracy and other whacko theories are nothing new.

Mandrake is played by Peter Sellers.

“General Ripper: Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?

Group Captain Lionel Mandrake: Well, no, I can’t say I have.

Ripper: Vodka. That’s what they drink, isn’t it? Never water.

Mandrake: Well, I believe that’s what they drink, Jack. Yes.

Ripper: On no account will a Commie ever drink water and not without good reason.

Mandrake: Yes. I — I don’t quite see what you’re getting at, Jack.

Ripper: Water. That’s what I’m getting at. Water.”

He might have added fluoride, but you get the satirical value of the brilliant Stanley Kubrick film.

Over the years we have been given contradictory, even wrong information about so many things, most recently about masks during the Covid-19 pandemic (they work, they don’t work), and vaccines (they protect you, but not always). Once, coffee was bad, now it’s OK. Alar on apples was bad, now apparently not. Global cooling and the coming Ice Age would kill us. Climate change will make us burn to death. Eggs, once bad, now OK. Nuts once bad, but raw nuts good as part of a healthy diet. Pasta once bad, now good if one chooses the right kind; 2 percent or skim milk once considered preferable to whole milk, but not any longer.

The list goes on.

Words like moderation in all things, a healthy diet and exercise remain the gold standard for good health. That hasn’t changed, though the “experts” can’t seem to make up their minds. Defenders of what some have called “junk science” say changed minds are based on new research. Meanwhile, we are told to believe today’s scientists and change our lives accordingly.

I have drunk fluoridated water and brushed my teeth with fluoride toothpaste all my life. I’ve lived this long, so I think I will continue the pattern and see if “science” changes again.