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Cool anecdote, but you know what would be even better? If we had a choice.

You do have a choice. If fluoride scares you so much, stop brushing your teeth and buy a water filter.

Oh, and eat a diet that has no carbohydrates in it.

Cute answer, but I, along with the entire non-toddler population, don't ingest toothpaste. HN's propensity for "don't like it? Just buy this gadget/start your own company/move to Somalia"-style rhetoric also makes an appearance.

I have no idea what you meant with the carbohydrate comment if you wouldn't mind explaining.

Oh and thanks for the down vote, but this isn't reddit.

> Cute answer, but I, along with the entire non-toddler population, don't ingest toothpaste.

You do ingest toothpaste, albeit only small amounts. Much like you ingest mouthwash, you just try to keep it to a minimum.

> HN's propensity for "don't like it? Just buy this gadget/start your own company/move to Somalia"-style rhetoric also makes an appearance.

What else can I suggest? In a democratic society that is your choice. You can fight to change the law, or you can work around it.

> I have no idea what you meant with the carbohydrate comment if you wouldn't mind explaining.

Since humans developed agriculture and started consuming large amounts of carbohydrates, they have experienced tooth decay. Fluoride is necessary to prevent it.

> Oh and thanks for the down vote, but this isn't reddit.

This discussion is completely off-topic and your comments are unhelpful. A downvote is justifiable.

> In a democratic society that is your choice. You can fight to change the law, or you can work around it.

Ridiculous. First, neither of us live in a democracy. There was no vote where the general populace elected to receive low doses of toxic minerals in our drinking water. Rather cabals of lobbyists persuaded municipal officials to add it under the guise of it being a good thing. Which has yet to be statistically demonstrated.

> Ridiculous. First, neither of us live in a democracy.

You don't know where I live! Though I'd agree that capitalist countries are not very democratic, at least not mine and the United States.

> There was no vote where the general populace elected to receive low doses of toxic minerals in our drinking water.

It varies by country.

"Toxic minerals" is an amusing statement given that virtually all substances are toxic in the correct dose. As someone else pointed out, sola dosis facit venenum: the dose makes the poison.

thomas943 4026 days ago

If you're interested to know how and why you've been conditioned to think that way, look up Edward Bernays and his involvement with getting fluoride into the water supply of a number of countries.

In short, he's known as the father of Public Relations. Fluoride can only legally be disposed of in expensive toxic waste dumps, and Mr. Bernays came up with a plan to dispose of it for free by passing it through the human body. His public relations skills were so amazing that he even succeeded in making people (like you) want to ingest it.

Yes, water fluoridation happened, at least in part, because of large company lobbying.

This has no impact on its health benefits, however. For $1 a year, we get less cavities. This isn't marketing bullshit, it's science.

It's not science and just because you know a little bit about computer science doesn't make you qualified to speak about water fluoridation. Several countries have banned water fluoridation for the very reason that after decades and decades there is no causal link between water fluoridation and tooth decay.

DanBC 4026 days ago

Do you have any links?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Water_fluoridation...

TLDR: most of Europe

DanBC 4026 days ago

You said they stopped it because there was no benefit. Do you have a source for that claim? Wikipedia (not a source) doesn't give reasons for the discontinuation of flouride.