Hacker News Reader

Comment by jweir | Hacker News Reader

Fluoride in the water impacts the development of teeth. Portland, where I live, is the last major city to not have fluoride in the water.

So kids have to take tablets if they want the impact. But this is far less effective.

Ask a dentist here. Locals have more tooth decay.

View on HN

Since we're doing anecdotes, my kids grew up on well water and have never had cavities or tooth problems. They (most of the time) brush their teeth daily, eat sugary crap, and get fluoride treatments applied yearly from the dentist (they "paint" a gel on the kids teeth, I believe this is standard in the US for all children regardless of water fluoridation).

I’ll note that this anecdote can cut both ways: well water is just as likely to have more fluoride than fluoridated municipal water, since fluoride is naturally occurring, soluble, and commonly found in rock formations that also hold water.

What are the measured natural flouride levels of the well water you referenced and how did they compare to the municipal water supply?

What about genetic predisposition to cavities?

> Portland, where I live, is the last major city to not have fluoride in the water.

Kind of depends how you track things I'd think. New Jersey, the state with the highest population density in the US, largely doesn't put fluoride in the water outside of a few municipalities.

There's no fluoride in the water in almost the entirety of Hudson, Essex, and Bergen counties, which are located near NYC and include the cities of Newark and Jersey City. Combined population of those three counties is over 2.5 million people.

Tablets that the kids ingest?? After so much evidence of the neurotoxic effects of ingested fluoride, it's worse than criminal if these dentists are giving fluoride for kids to eat.

Other American cities without fluoride in their water include Tucson, Wichita, Fresno, Albuquerque and San Jose. I wonder how their teeth are doing.

Check again.

San Jose’s added it. Albuquerque added it. Fresno removed it after having it. Tucson and Wichita does not - but Tucson’s level is about 50% of the recommended level.

By comparison Portland’s is 3%. Probably why dentists see high level of tooth decay here.

Looks like San Jose got it in the late 2010s (2017/2019 timeframe). There are lots of people on HN from that area - hopefully someone can comment on the general state of children / people's teeth prior to then.

Dietary fluoride has a minimal impact, you need fluoride on the surface of the tooth. A fluoride rinse is much more effective that tablets or in the water.

Not for tooth development - ie permanent teeth in children.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com