which can be handled via topical treatments. INGESTING it is a whole nother ball game, imho.
Tooth decay in children correlates more closely with poverty rates than with fluoridated water. It's lack of affordable dental care and education. I still see so many babies and little kids drinking soda and kool-aid instead of water.
Fluoride accumulates in the kidneys, and at higher rates in children than adults.
As an adult with Hypothyroidism I've stopped drinking tea (7 times more fluoride than fluoridated water) and I drink filtered tap water, 4-5 big glasses a day. How am I going to avoid it now?
from the link above..
In March of 2006, the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences published a groundbreaking report confirming that chronic, low-level fluoride exposure can cause a variety of serious health conditions, including bone fracture, joint pain, and disruption of the nervous and endocrine systems, including the brain, thyroid and pineal glands (NRC Report, 2006). The NRC Panel unanimously agreed that the current Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) for fluoride (4 ppm) is too high and does not adequately protect against adverse health effects.
This finding is significant because it narrows the margin of safety between the current MCLG of 4 ppm and the recommended 1 ppm which is added to fluoridate drinking water. Several members of the NRC Panel also concluded there is no safe fluoride exposure level for those in our society who are most vulnerable to its deleterious effects, namely infants and children, the elderly, diabetics, high volume water consumers and individuals with decreased kidney and thyroid function.
and as an side-note, I think this is the first time you and I have disagreed in a science thread