Fluoridation in the news

Montreal recently decided to stop fluoridating the water provided to Pointe Claire and Dorval, and this has become an issue, given that a total nutbar member of the Kennedy family is likely to soon be in charge of all health measures in the United States and he hates fluoride, as do a lot of people affected by similar conspiracy theories.1

Jean Drapeau hated fluoride too, which is why Montreal has inherited a policy of not fluoridating. The city position now includes three semi‑legitimate points, viz:

  • Fluoride corrodes water infrastructure
  • Fluoride would remain in wastewater, then get out into the river and have unknown effects on the river ecosystem
  • Most people use fluoridated toothpaste anyway (although if they do, surely the fluoride gets into wastewater just the same?)2

Canada has a nifty experiment with a control already running, which is that Calgary ceased fluoridating while Edmonton didn’t, leaving Calgary kids with a lot more cavities than those in the other city.

Following from these thoughts, the fact that the vaccine facility that was started here during the height of Covid has never been completed should be faced, and the project moved up the priority list. We won’t be able to count on the United States for health assistance now for at least four years.

There may be other areas in which Canada will have to gird itself not to get sucked into a black hole along its southern borders.

1. We mostly won’t need to worry about Kennedy unless there’s another pandemic and he keeps the U.S. from developing or deploying vaccines.
2. I don’t know how many people use alternative toothpastes instead of aggressively minty grocery store brands, but one of their selling points is usually that they’re not fluoridated. So granola kids, and poor kids, might not get fluoride at all.