Fluoride Hits Headlines Again, Paranoia Intact
Dentalcompare
Clinical Director
The New York Times posted an article this week about the changing view of fluoride in our country. For once, the article was very balanced as far as presenting both sides of the issue. Discussed were the dangers to teeth of having too much fluoride in your diet, especially for young kids. Thankfully, they added in the fact that many studies are inconclusive as to the effects on adults and on the rest of the body.
The interesting part of the story is about Pinellas county in Florida. They recently voted to to end the seven year old program of adding fluoride to the public drinking water. They were one of eleven cities that opted out this year. Why the change? This time it came down to money. Pinellas County stands to relieve their budget by over $200,000, although many of the people at the meeting apparently felt that the reasons were more political than scientific.
At this point, we know that fluoride definitely helps teeth by preventing decay. The worry here is that they were stepping over dollars to get to pennies. They may save a little now, but at what cost to dental care in the future? Is this an extension of the budget crisis seeping into dentistry, similar to rising costs of medical care? I believe that universal healthcare should be a basic human right, but this seems to happen every time we give the government control over something. For example, public education in California is one of the first piggy banks to get robbed when a budget crisis hits. Ask the teachers what they think of that. In a similar way, it would be hard to imagine the government not cutting health services when things get tight. As a healthcare provider, I am glad that we don't have to attenuate our care due to limited services or compensation.
In previous blogs, the challenge to provide conclusive evidence was thrown out to the reader. I would also love to hear any comments about the future of healthcare. We certainly live in interesting times.