this post was submitted on 14 May 2025
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The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced it will begin the process of pulling prescription fluoride drops and tablets for children off the market. The supplements are usually given to kids at high risk for cavities.

The federal government and some state legislatures are increasingly drawing attention to what they claim are the risks associated with fluoride, a mineral that’s been used for decades in community water systems, toothpastes and mouth rinses to prevent tooth decay.

Dentists fiercely contest the notion that the harms of fluoride outweigh the benefits.

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[–] Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 161 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (4 children)

This is even more nuts than removing fluoride from municipal water systems. At least with that, parents who believe the science that their kids' teeth will be better off with targeted fluoride treatment can buy the drops and tablets, and those who are afraid for some reason can choose to just not use it.

This is just trying to ban access to fluoride entirely, despite research showing its benefits and the distinct lack of significant harm. Madness.

What next, are they going to criminalize sending fluoride drops/pills through the mail, like mifepristone?

Calgary, AB Canada removed fluoride and a decade later added it back after seeing the effects of its absence.

[–] minnow@lemmy.world 50 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

This is just trying to ban access to fluoride entirely

Well yeah. These are extremists, absolutists, radicals. Their dogma must be simple and without exceptions. If they admit even one scenario where fluoride has more benefits than deficits, their whole ideology and worldview crumbles. Nuance is an existential threat.

[–] Eximius@lemmy.world 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Narcissism as a fascist dictatorship of a whole country.

[–] SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 hours ago

The mechanisms of narcissism and of cults are remarkably similar.

[–] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 14 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

You could make a great movie about the fluoride prohibition of the 2020s.

[Opening shot: A dark, rain-slicked cityscape. Neon signs flicker. A child’s toothbrush lies abandoned in a puddle.]

Narrator (gravelly voice): In a world where fluoride is forbidden…

[Cut to a sleek black SUV speeding through a checkpoint. Inside, a woman in a lab coat loads a capsule into a hidden compartment behind a false toothpaste tube.]

Narrator: …one syndicate dares to keep the smiles alive.

[Cue dramatic music. A warehouse door slams open. Inside: crates of fluoride tablets, glowing faintly blue. Armed guards in dental scrubs patrol the perimeter.]

Agent Plaque (sternly): “They’re dosing kids in back-alley clinics. We need to shut them down—permanently.”

[Montage: high-speed chases through suburban cul-de-sacs, a drone crashing into a jungle gym, a slow-motion shot of a fluoride pill flying through the air and landing in a glass of water.]

The Molar (smirking): “You can take the fluoride out of the pharmacies… but you can’t take the sparkle out of the people.”

[Cue epic music drop. Explosions. A toothbrush sword fight. A child grinning with unnaturally white teeth.]

Narrator: This summer… the fight for dental freedom begins.

FLUORIDE WARS: THE SPARKLE SYNDICATE

Coming soon to a theater near you. Brush responsibly.

[–] leftzero@lemmynsfw.com 12 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

You could make a great movie about the fluoride prohibition

We already have one: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

collapsed inline media

[–] barneypiccolo@lemm.ee 13 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

They just banned it in Florida, with Meatball DeSatan calling it "forced medication," and that if parents want their kids to have fluoride, they can give it to them. Now they want to ban those products, too.

So now we're just going to reconfigure our entire society to indulge the fantasies of conspiracy theory weirdos?

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 4 points 51 minutes ago

So now we're just going to reconfigure our entire society to indulge the fantasies of conspiracy theory weirdos?

Until Americans get off their couch and do something, yes.

[–] arrow74@lemm.ee 2 points 45 minutes ago

No reason to reconfigure anything. They have droves of people willingly agreeing to and gobbling this shit up. Our society is fundamentally broken