[46Bit]

Indeed, it's supposed to protect teeth of people unable to afford toothpaste. Whilst it actually just causes cancer. In a similar way to how X-raying everyone who wants to get on a plane protects us from non-existent terrorists.

[Pwnguinz]

Do you have a source for your first statement? Not that I'm implying you are lying. Certainly it's added as a mineral fortifier, but to protect the teeth of people unable to afford toothpaste? That is news to me.

[ams6110]

Flouride additions to water was started in the 1960s or 1970s as a public health initiative to fight tooth decay, a significant health problem. It was not added as a "fortifier" in the same way that vitamin D is commonly added to milk.

[kragen]

Fluoride is not a nutrient. It is added to drinking water for the same reason it is present in toothpaste: to convert tooth enamel from hydroxyapatite to harder and more acid-resistant fluoroapatite. For details, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoride_therapy http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11571 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056796.htm.