Here’s a little secret: I didn’t take very good care of my teeth when I was a kid.
As with a lot of children, brushing and flossing just was not a priority for me. Most of the time, I didn’t do it at all unless my parents were actually watching me. I still rarely floss.
Nevertheless, I have only ever had two cavities in my entire life.
Why? Because I grew up in an era when people had the good sense to trust science.
I understand skepticism about science. Blind faith in anything gets humans in plenty of trouble. And when we get it wrong, it can go spectacularly wrong.
The list can be frightening, but to pick just one example, let’s go with the drug Thalidomide. From 1958 to 1961, Thalidomide was a boon to pregnant moms in the developed world lessening the symptoms of morning sickness.
Unfortunately, it was also lessening the chances of their babies being born with all their limbs. By the time the drug was withdrawn, approximately 10,000 deformed, or perhaps more accurately, incompletely formed children had been born.
That is why when science is done correctly, it is skeptical of itself. It is why we have peer review and rigorous testing regimes etc. Sometimes even those are undermined by unscrupulous people for financial gain, but regulatory bodies at least attempt to mitigate that.
For the most part, scientists, and even business people, want to get it right. And when we get it right, the benefits to humanity can be immeasurable.
I do not still have all my beautiful strong teeth with only two fillings because of genetic good fortune. My pearly whites are intact because around 1945 municipal officials had the foresight to start putting fluoride in our water supplies.
Now, Moncton, New Brunswick just became the latest in a long line of cities that have removed fluoride from their drinking water because of unsubstantiated fears only to witness their children’s teeth start decaying.
Like so many of the of the “natural” anti-science crowd’s follies, this one is based on a molecule of truth in a sea of nonsense. Fluorine is a nasty element. In its natural state it is a highly toxic yellow gas.
Scary, right?
Not.
It is also highly reactive and combines readily with other elements such as sodium. Sodium fluoride (NaF), benign unless ingested or inhaled in quantity, was the first compound used to fluoridate water.
And, guess what? It is natural. Researchers figured out the benefits of fluoride because of a group of people whose teeth had a mottled brown look. Although perhaps a bit unsightly, those teeth were healthy and cavity-free. Why? Naturally-occurring fluoride in the drinking water. Doctors called the condition fluorosis, naturally.
In Moncton, dentists are now leading the charge to reverse the mistake of probably well-meaning but misguided anti-fluoride activists and kow-towing politicians. This is significant because if anyone stands to benefit from bad teeth, it is dentists.
And it is not just about tooth health. Tooth health contributes to overall health. There are also economic benefits. One study estimated for every dollar invested in water fluoridation, people save $38 in dental health costs. You’d think it would be dentists leading the charge to have fluoride removed from the water.
Are there dangers to science? Yes, but the anti-science crowd is getting more than a little tiresome. In their quest for “natural” they lose sight of the fact science is human nature.
Losing our teeth at a young age is natural. Dying of preventable childhood diseases is natural. Dying of exposure, being eaten by lions, starving to death because of fluctuating food supply are all natural.
But we are humans. We farm to guarantee our food supply; we build weapons to protect ourselves against wild animals; we live in houses to keep the elements in abeyance, we vaccinate to prevent childhood disease. And the sensible among us fluoridate our drinking water.
As I said, there is room for skepticism. Personally, I question absolutely everything. Water fluoridation, however, is as tried and true as anything science has ever accomplished.
The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages, if there actually are any.
In this case, the evidence suggests the cons are largely imagined.
