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Bite me

I spent the morning at the dentist today. Broke my tooth on a peppercorn at dinner. Better than a beer bottle, no? Anyway, took the opportunity to visit with my friend Paddy (seriously, my dentist is named Paddy) to ask about fluoride for the girls. Turns out the UK is lacking in more than just Cool Whip.

Conventional teaching in pediatrics in the US is that most people receive fluoridated drinking water if supplied by a public waterworks. The CDC actually calls the addition of fluoride to drinking water one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century. When people get extra fluoride, the risk of tooth decay goes down significantly. And who wants rotten teeth? On the other hand, too much fluoride can damage developing chompers. With that in mind, most American pediatricians recommend fluoride supplementation only for infants and children who aren’t living in an area with fluoridated water. We also advise families to use toothpaste without fluoride for little ones until they are old enough to understand spitting, rather than swallowing, those minty suds.

So today I thought to ask our dentist about London’s water supply. I had assumed it was fluoridated and often used this point to chastise my friends who insist on using bottled water for their kid’s formula. (Not only are you wasting money but you’re going to ruin his entire future!!!) Well, well. Imagine my surprise when I learned that water in the UK is sometimes fluoridated and it varies from area to area. In fact, the children in the most expensive part of London have the highest tooth decay rate of the entire United Kingdom!

I guess this would explain why all the children’s toothpaste here has added fluoride, which had surprised me. And I’ve been advised to pick up some fluoride drops for the girls for a little added protection. Which I will be doing immediately. I have zero interest in spending any more time than necessary with our dentist, no matter how lovely he is.

Dr. Lara Zibners, Nov 15, 2010

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