Eugine_Nier comments on Water Fluoridation - Less Wrong

1 Post author: Alexei 17 February 2012 04:33AM

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Comment author: gwern 17 February 2012 06:29:15PM 1 point [-]

You would have to do more than that; for example, you would have to avoid any toothpastes, obviously, but less obviously you would have to completely cut out tea and some other plants which naturally contain high levels of fluoride. (Tea would be a real sacrifice for me.)

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 17 February 2012 06:49:07PM 2 points [-]

There exists non-flourinated toothpaste.

Comment author: gwern 17 February 2012 07:36:32PM 1 point [-]

Ah. I wondered whether it was a big enough market to support a non-flouridated toothpaste, but I didn't have enough energy to look it up. (Head cold.)

Comment author: TimS 17 February 2012 08:23:13PM 1 point [-]

I suspect the largest market is for very young children. My son's pediatrician recommended we brush his teeth, but all the children's toothpaste I've bought has been non-flourinated. I assume that this is based on some sort of medical advice to the manufacturers, but I've never actually checked.

Comment author: gwern 18 February 2012 04:36:53PM 2 points [-]

At a guess, it's a precaution: very young children may eat it down as a kind of candy. (Don't all flouridated toothpastes come with warnings against swallowing?)

Comment author: TomM 04 June 2012 05:34:49AM *  1 point [-]

Not just the very young - my 5 year old son was consuming toothpaste at such a rate that we have had to cut off his formerly unfettered access to it.

No amount of telling him 'eating a tubeful every few days is probably unhealthy' had any effect - he just loves the stuff.