So googling, newspaper of record says the city water supply has never head lead pipes or lead solder. The issue is that some homes and buildings may have lead pipes inside, which should be tested every 3 years…but maybe aren’t. I can see this being a big issue in neighborhoods that otherwise already have massive infrastructure problems.
“The department adds zinc orthophosphate to water, which helps stop lead from leaching out of pipes. And, it keeps the water’s pH level neutral, as acidity in water can corrode materials that contain lead.”
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Looks like a nearby area didn’t get any fluoride until 2019!!!???!!!???
this letter to the editor:
With all due respect to that backwater, I am so glad we moved away when I was in middle school. I shudder to think what might’ve happened to my brain if we had stayed in the area.
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I feel so sophisticated out here in the boondocks with hound dogs, black bears, and fluoride.
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Anecdotal! I had Big Teeth/Jaw Problems as a child, enough that my orthodontist wrote an academic paper on me and I got my braces for $0, but never any cavities, despite mediocre personal tooth care. I have developed One Cavity in my life, when I was living in a city farther away that has more lead problems in the water than lack of fluoride, and since then I have lived in my home town which is full of fluoride and also possibly dioxene which may or may not cause cancer.
I know like three people allergic to fluoride and if The Government is going to put fluoride in the water, which I think they should, The Government should give them the filters to get the fluoride Out of the water. But I guess it would be maybe not cost-effective because of anti-vaxxers?
Also, now fluoride no longer looks like a word.
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Portland desperately needs a Parks and Rec-style rebranding campaign for fluoride.
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Don’t forget to give away the plain blue tshirts! #sparklepoints #h2flow
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I have sympathy for this one, but I support fluorination. Two generations of my family have brown (most severe) tooth staining from fluorination to overly high levels. And they are distrustful of the ability of municipalities to monitor the volume of fluoride in the water. They are also afraid of the bread, or were until the 2000s.
In my living, local memory, I can think of 2 major water supply fuckups on other issues, leading to deaths, plus flint, plus our first nations people often don’t have access to safe water. So if my local government wanted to change something major in my water supply that I can currently safely drink…would I trust them to not fuck it up?
My water has fluoride… But would I want any changes in supply, filtration or additives?
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Can you elaborate on this? What bread? Any bread or only that which is made from fluoridated water?
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Rye bread. Because of ergot poisoning in their city’s history. Autocorrect made it the, but I assure you they feasted on other bread
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I was thinking about flint when first reading this thread. And the disparity in power citizens have in Portland vs Flint
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Ah, the intersection of science, engineering and social welfare (and then add some politics on top cuz why not). It’s a bitch.
Engineering and science-wise, fluoride is fine and good. That said, as a somewhat socially-aware water engineer I am totally on board with people like Elle’s being damn suspicious of anything new. If I knew the local water supplier had a history of being shithouse at managing basic water quality I’d rather go the route of treating teeth with fluoride directly in schools/ dentists too.
Given the costs of preventive care in the states and your medical system… It’s too complex. If you could add fluoride and be sure it was reaching all the kids, the net benefit is so great that the cost to the few who are affected by it is probably outweighed. Which sucks. I don’t know the numbers of people actually affected by fluoride, though. I think your (@anomalily’s) assessment that it won’t have the desired impact is likely correct at this stage, and they need to do a marketing campaign (and quietly shell out for those who medically require the water filtration).
I had to write this three times to remove slang and jargon because water quality safety is such a big fucking deal. If we were talking in person I would have sounded very, very country Australian.
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Actual difficulties with fluoride must be vanishingly rare, though? At least I have never once heard of anyone needing to avoid it, and have had fluoridated water for almost all of my life, that critical period for my poor brother’s teeth excepted.
Edit: I mean people having to avoid proper levels of fluoride, not water system screwups.
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I haven’t heard of anyone having issues either and therefore assume they are generally rare but I am learning that I must do my actual research if I want to make claims. Better off to be cautious especially because this is my field.
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Oh, definitely.
[Edited out some potentially identifying stuff]
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Makes sense, because even if the research said one thing when a person is active in the field, it may be saying another now. Science always carries a “good until further notice” warning label.
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Oh, maintaining means staying up on the research, but holding it means you’re extra careful about what you say in public. Two different things (both valid).
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Well, I have learned a ton from this thread already. Until 5 minutes ago, I assumed the UK had flouridated water nationwide. Have just looked it up and discovered we don’t. But the region I grew up in, and which I’m back in now, does.
Was suuuper-surprised to learn this. So thanks for that… 
And also to read about the debate in the States. That strong streak of individualism and individual responsibility vs collective or municipal responsibility in the US fascinates me, especially as it relates to public health.
Tooth decay is so injurious to general health and well-being, plus just all-out painful and expensive to fix. For me, anything a government, local or national, can do to reduce that misery for the vast majority of people seems to be for the greater good.
I realise some people can’t drink it. But isn’t it better for a few people to use a filter if they have allergies, the same way someone who is Coeliac would take responsibility for avoiding gluten? And that way poor and at-risk kids and adults can have one less (painful, difficult) thing to worry about.
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Fun fact @NewboldOne - The UK have the lowest cavities per capita and overall the 2nd best dental health outcomes in the world (after Finland). I wonder if the low cost of the NHS dental (I know it’s not free like other medical) contributes to that.
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Really? Didn’t know that. Go us! 
We also have teeth which are regularly referred to as ‘British Teeth’, and which would (and do) horrify the many people from the US whom I know spend years in orthodontic ironmongery… We don’t all whiten our teeth either. For many people here Function > Aesthetics. And also, unless you’re a kid, cosmetic dentistry of any kind is expensive.
Am guessing the relatively low cost of NHS Dentistry would impact those stats, yes. As you say, we do have to pay a comparatively small amount for a consult, then more (these days) for treatment. And some dental surgeries also have limits on the number of NHS patients they will take, which can lead to extra travel if you’re not able to pay to go privately.
The regions I’ve just read about which do have flouride in the water are also pretty large.
I drink tap water. It’s one of my daily joys to do so after living abroad where I couldn’t, because it’s just so easy. And it makes me feel profoundly lucky to be able to do that, when so many people worldwide cannot. I also did that continually as a kid.
Truthfully, I can’t fathom not wanting every kid (and adult) to have the best possible teeth. When the solution is so simple. But that’s just me…
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Honestly the perfect “American Teeth” are far more terrifying in their implications. The expectation and expense of perfect teeth helps perpetuate class divisions, which is way more dystopian than crooked but functional teeth…
By the way, I did want to make clear: although I brought up the fluoride “woo-woo” fearmongering, I do recognize some people may be legit medically sensitive and it’s shitty to make them pay extra, not covered by insurance, to be able to use/drink water. I do still wonder how common a fluoride-specific issue is, compared to fluoride and water safety chemicals eg chloramines (I don’t know what all this entails, just that in some places it has smelled like pool water ick)
Also, on a tangentially related subject of dental health: I’ve been using Boka toothpaste about half-time the past 2 years. I did some cursory research before starting to confirm their main claims that the active ingredient (nano-hydroxyapatite, n-HA) was widely used in Japan and used to remineralize teeth and bones (? I think) in clinical settings. It’s really helped my sensitivity a lot more than Sensodyne or the like, but I never did make an appointment with a new dentist before covid so I don’t have an expert opinion on it. Wonder if anyone else has used it or considered it and does?
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