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Fluoride in drinking water: Study finds no negative association for children


Young children’s exposure to fluoride through public tap water is not linked to any emotional or behavioral problems, nor to any negative executive activity during their teen years, according to a new study from Australia. teenagers, according to a new study from Australia.

Researchers looked at more than 2,600 children in a longitudinal study that compared kids who had spent their lives drinking fluoridated tap water with those who didn’t, to see if exposure to fluoride in drinking water could help. any negative effects or not.

What they found was that fluoridated water was not associated with any impairment, and that children not exposed to fluoridated water actually tended to score lower on emotional and executive function.

Fluoride is a substance we’re familiar with in toothpaste or at the dentist’s office, where it’s used to help prevent tooth decay and make teeth stronger.

This mineral also occurs naturally in water to varying degrees. To create a standard for water quality, many cities and regions in the US, UK and Canada, among others, add fluoride to their water to achieve optimal levels for oral health.

However, tolerating false information about fluoride has led to concerns that fluoridated water could be hazardous to the health of some.

This new study, published Sunday in the Journal of Dental Research, combines with plenty of evidence that those fears are unfounded.

Brian O’Connell, president of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) and dean of the department of health sciences at Trinity College in Ireland, said in a press release. “The IADR recently reaffirmed its support for water fluoridation as this public health measure has a high benefit/cost ratio and the most deprived benefits of the community, therefore reduce health inequalities.”

In this new study, researchers looked at data from the Australian National Children’s Oral Health Study, which was initially conducted between 2012 and 2014. The study looked at cross-sections of the population. number of children aged 5-14 in Australia to see how oral health is changing. by social characteristics.

The researchers mainly looked at two groups: children who had been exposed to fluoridated water throughout their life or most of their lives, and children who had little or no exposure to fluoridated water during their lifetime. research time.

Fluoride exposure from birth to 5 years of age was estimated based on the participants’ zip codes and known tap water levels in those areas. This was combined with information gathered at the start of the study period to generate the “percentage of lifetimes exposed to fluoridated water”.

When the researchers followed the participants seven to eight years later, they used questionnaires and tests to assess the children’s emotional and behavioral status, as well as their executive functioning.

They then compared the results of people who had spent their lives drinking fluoridated water with those who did not.

Those with lower percentages of lifetime exposure to fluoridated water tended to score lower on emotional, behavioral, and executive functioning questionnaires, while no association was found between high rates of exposure to fluoridated water and poorer scores on the questionnaire.

The researchers note that social factors also have an impact, with low household income among other attributes being associated with lower emotional, behavioral and executive performance scores.

Overall, they concluded that there was no indication that exposure to fluoridated water during the early childhood years contributed to problems during childhood development.

Australia recommends a fluoridation range of 0.6-1.1 milligrams per liter, with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines allowing a maximum of up to 1.5 mg/L.

In Canada, the optimal level of fluoride in our water is 0.7 mg/L, or 0.7 parts per million. This type of calculation assumes that residents are also receiving fluoride through their toothpaste or mouthwash.

Like many substances we ingest every day, including salt and oxygen, fluoride can be toxic in large enough doses, but despite careful studies and guidelines, some people are concerned about the presence its in the water supply.

This misinformation can have real consequences: a small community in the US was recently shocked to learn that an official in the water agency had lowered the level of fluoride without notice, a change. It was only discovered after parents started noticing more tooth decay in their children.

The director of water and wastewater for Richmond, Vt., stated he made the decision because he believed the levels were too high, adding that he did not trust the fluoride additives originating in China, a The opinion of experts that has no basis in fact.

Since then, the community has voted to return the water to a fully fluoridated state.

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