You may not think of fluoride as a drug, but it fits the bill: The FDA classifies fluoride as a drug, an essential nutrient to human health, and regulates its use.
So yeah. It’s a drug.
Fluoride used to be boring. 75% of US water is fluoridated, and it has greatly reduced the rate of tooth decay in this country and worldwide. Fluoridation has been among the biggest success stories in medical history.
But like a lot of medicine these days, fluoride is suddenly controversial. Again. Here and there, governments - the whole state of Utah, towns all over Florida - have removed fluoride from water. And predictably, the rate of tooth decay in children soars afterwards.
Still fluoride is also a riddle. Because while the US has had a lot of success with fluoride, most countries do NOT add it to their water - and many non-fluoridated countries have much the same rate of tooth decay as the US. Is fluoride toothpaste enough?
What is going on with fluoride?!
4 out of 5 dentists recommend you listen to this episode to the end!
