By Mike Stobbe, Associated
Press
Posted: 04/28/2015
05:39:59 AM PDT
NEW YORK
-- The government is
lowering the recommended
amount of fluoride in
drinking water because some
kids are getting too much,
causing white splotches on
their teeth.
It's the first change since
the government urged cities
to add fluoride to water
supplies to prevent tooth
decay more than 50 years
ago. Now, fluoride is put in
toothpaste, mouthwash and
other products as well.
One study found about 2 out
of 5 adolescents had tooth
streaking or spottiness.
It's primarily a cosmetic
issue, said deputy surgeon
general Boris Lushniak, in
announcing the new standard
Monday.
The mineral fluoride is in
water and soil. About 70
years ago, scientists
discovered that people whose
drinking water naturally had
more fluoride also had fewer
cavities.
Grand Rapids, Michigan,
became the world's first
city to add fluoride to its
drinking water in 1945. Six
years later, a study found a
dramatic decline in tooth
decay among children there,
and the U.S. surgeon general
endorsed water fluoridation.
Today, about 75 percent of
Americans get fluoridated
water.
But adding fluoride was --
and has remained --
controversial. Opponents
argue its health effects
aren't completely understood
and that adding it amounts
to an unwanted medication
.
Among the more recent
dust-ups: Portland, Oregon,
voters rejected a proposal
to add fluoride two years
ago. Sheridan, Wyoming, this
year resumed adding
fluoride; the city stopped
in 1953 after a referendum.
Water fluoridation has
been a public health
success, and communities
should keep adding fluoride,
said Kathleen O'Loughlin,
the American Dental
Association's executive
director, who joined
Lushniak in Monday's
announcement.
Lushniak added: "It is
the best method for
delivering fluoride to all
members of the community."
Since 1962, the
government has recommended a
range of 0.7 milligrams per
liter for warmer climates
where people drink more
water to 1.2 milligrams in
cooler areas. The new
standard is 0.7 everywhere.
Recent unpublished
federal research found
there's no regional
differences in the amount of
water kids drink. So it
makes sense for the same
levels to be used
everywhere, health officials
said.
To limit fluoride for
young children, the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention offers this
advice: Don't use fluoride
toothpaste for children
under 2 unless recommended
by a dentist; use only a
pea-sized amount of
toothpaste for children 2
through 6, and avoid
fluoride mouthwash.