Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed
by Pwnguinz on Friday May 11, 2012 @09:49AM
(#3959154)
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.
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Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed
by ams6110 on Friday May 11, 2012 @10:22AM
(#3959295)
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.
Re:When half a million Americans died and nobody noticed
by kragen on Friday May 11, 2012 @07:35PM
(#3961991)
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.