Water Fluoridation May Not Prevent Cavities, Scientific Review Shows • Hacker News Board

Re: Water Fluoridation May Not Prevent Cavities, Scientific Review Shows

#101

Post by SixSigma » Wed, Jul 01, 2015, 10:30 AM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #71

evunveot wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. My cat is only four years old. But my point is that we treat tooth decay like an inevitable consequence of failing to brush and floss when we actually know it's caused by the blooming of certain specific bacteria. Brushing with fluoride helps enamel resist the decay, but it does nothing to prevent the bad bacteria from blooming again in 12 hours. Admittedly, I hate taking care of my teeth and thinking ab…

Tooth decay has plagued humanity since before recorded history. Before dentistry, it used to kill people. It routinely kills animals in zoos. Presumably it kills them in the wild, too --- just, more slowly and painfully. Which is not to moralize about your own dental hygiene. Dealing with the consequences of poor dental hygiene is what dentists are for. :)

Tooth decay in England only became a major issue from the Tudor period onwards when readily available sugar was introduced the food supply

Re: Water Fluoridation May Not Prevent Cavities, Scientific Review Shows

#102

Post by tptacek » Wed, Jul 01, 2015, 1:59 PM UTC

SixSigma wrote: post #101

tptacek wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tooth decay has plagued humanity since before recorded history. Before dentistry, it used to kill people. It routinely kills animals in zoos. Presumably it kills them in the wild, too --- just, more slowly and painfully. Which is not to moralize about your own dental hygiene. Dealing with the consequences of poor dental hygiene is what dentists are for. :)

Tooth decay in England only became a major issue from the Tudor period onwards when readily available sugar was introduced the food supply

I don't know what "major issue" is, but there is evidence of paleolithic dentistry, long before there were sugar crops.

Re: Water Fluoridation May Not Prevent Cavities, Scientific Review Shows

#103

Post by knodi123 » Wed, Jul 01, 2015, 2:18 PM UTC

jws wrote: post #64

knodi123 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evora will be glad to sell you probiotic lozenges containing benign mouth bacteria that can outcompete the harmful ones. Personally, I used them for two months as directed, and saw no real difference. Can't wait for a real product, I just hope it doesn't start off costing $200/month like some probiotics I've seen.

Curious: How would you observe a difference in two months? (HN being what it is, I'm half expecting you to tell me you were assaying your mouth bacteria with an electron microscope you made and some OpenCV hacked together on…)

Haha, no, no fancy electronics here. Just anecdotal observations.

I used mouthwash daily for a few years, established a baseline of how my mouth felt, and how my wife said it smelt. Used the tablet for 2 months, and felt no different, and she said I smelled no different.

It doesn't establish that Evora probiotics are useless, but I think it fairly establishes that they're not significantly better than just using mouthwash.

Re: Water Fluoridation May Not Prevent Cavities, Scientific Review Shows

#104

Post by jessriedel » Thu, Jul 02, 2015, 2:37 PM UTC

cantrevealname wrote: post #96

jessriedel wrote: post #10

Just so everyone is clear: this review found that there is little evidence that water fluoridation has any benefits. It does not dispute that fluoride in toothpaste reduces tooth decay. > Studies that attest to the effectiveness of fluoridation were generally done before the widespread usage of fluoride-containing dental products like rinses and toothpastes in the 1970s and later, according to the recent Cochrane stu…

> this review found that there is little evidence that water fluoridation has any benefits. It does not dispute that fluoride in toothpaste reduces tooth decay This agrees well with a personal observation of mine. A majority of those I know who grew up in the 1970's or earlier have a mouth full of fillings. Yet almost everyone I know who grew up in the 1990's or later have few or zero fillings. I've asked several dif…

> If we were to assume that toothpaste commonly began to contain fluoride after the mid or late 1970's

Not sure, but that sounds wrong according to wikipedia:

> Fluoride was first added to toothpastes in the 1890s. "Tanagra", containing calcium fluoride as the active ingredient, was sold by Karl F. Toellner Company, of Bremen, Germany, based upon the early work of chemist Albert Deninger.[31] An analogous invention by Roy Cross, of Kansas City, Mo., was initially criticized by the American Dental Association (ADA) in 1937. Fluoride toothpastes developed in the 1950s received the ADA's approval. To develop the first ADA-approved fluoride toothpaste, Procter & Gamble started a research program in the early 1940s. In 1950, Procter & Gamble developed a joint research project team headed by Dr. Joseph Muhler at Indiana University to study new toothpaste with fluoride. In 1955, Procter & Gamble's Crest launched its first clinically proven fluoride-containing toothpaste. On August 1, 1960, the ADA reported that "Crest has been shown to be an effective anticavity (decay preventative) dentifrice that can be of significant value when used in a conscientiously applied program of oral hygiene and regular professional care."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothpaste#Modern_toothpaste

Re: Water Fluoridation May Not Prevent Cavities, Scientific Review Shows

#105

Post by brianwawok » Fri, Jul 03, 2015, 5:42 PM UTC

nulltype wrote: post #98

brianwawok wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you seen a 50 year old cat? I bet their teeth would be completely rotten. Okay so house cats don't live that long.. but look at longer living mammals like horses. Their teeth are terrible at 20 years old. I think the human teeth will do fine without brushing for 20-30 years, enough to make babies. They aren't really designed for the 75 year life plan..

I know tons of people under 30 who have a lot of cavities.

Sure but the can smash up food well enough to live.