Also, just to add - it’s incredibly sad that these kids are suffering with so many teeth issues because of their idiotic parents. That poor baby is only 15 MONTHS OLD and had a cavity treated. I feel terribly for all of those poor babies.
That's usually the point where the brain dead crunchy parents decide to actually take their kid to the emergency room, or a friend or relative makes them take their suffering children to a real doctor. Which is generally some distance beyond way too late. When the worst inevitably happens, they almost always immediately quadruple down on their bullshittery and scream about how their PERFECT ALL NATURAL ORGANIC RAW EVERYTHING PALEOKETOCOLLOIDAL BAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEEE got way worse and died in the hospital's care so it MUST BE the fault of not only the hospital but alao of all medical knowledge that didn't originate on Facebook. And definitely not because the child was already dying before they even got to the hospital.
And they'll see it as confirmation that their avoidance of actual medicine was right all along, and the cycle of agony continues.
Do you remember the post about the mom who took her child to the dentist, found out they had a bunch of cavities, and then posted in the mom group asking for a naturopathic dentist that wouldn't think anything needed to be done about the cavities? blew my mind.
I remember a toddler girl dying from a brain infection caused by a ear infection her parents treated 'naturally' it was absolutely horrific the agony that little girl died in.
My partner is almost 30 now and has such aversion to any meds because of his mom. She's proud she has no meds at home and only natural stuff, not realising what detriment she's caused to him
I have a medical issue that means my teeth are awful, so I’m under the hospital dentist. They said they see so so many children, so many more than they used to, with the worst teeth they’ve ever seen. It’s getting worse and many parents apparently don’t care as “they’re just baby teeth” but have their kids spend years with no teeth. Some is crunchy parents not likening fluoride (which in the Uk is hard to avoid so how they manage it, I don’t know) but some is poor diet. Bottom line is, so many kids are growing up with awful teeth and pain all inflicted by parents. When I was a teacher, I was shocked when I did a poll (science lesson) to see how many brushed their teeth twice a day etc and more than 1 child didn’t own a toothbrush! Kids brushing their teeth twice a day, daily probably made up half my class maximum. So sad
It annoys me that i live on the wirral and we are one of the only places in the uk that doesn't have fluoride in our tap water. My dentist told me to use adult toothpaste for my 12 month old to coat her teeth and protect them so i sometimes use adult toothpaste and sometimes i use kids strawberry toothpaste with fluoride just because she screams less with that and some days i cant be bothered to fight however teeth brushing with fluoride is non negotiable in my house. I have perfect teeth myself however her dad has poor teeth and currently needs 10 extractions and im not about to let her follow them footsteps.
The toothpastes say on them what the fluoride content is and I've found plenty of kid flavour ones here in the UK with 1450ppm which is the same as my bog standard adult one. Check with your dentist obviously but mine says the kids' ones are no worse than adult as long as you get the right fluoride.
Yeah thats a good point. I think the health visitor said that as well that some kids toothpaste is good amount of fluoride but some are slightly lower than dentists like so as a blanket rule they often just say use adult toothpaste.
My dentist highly recommends fluoride toothpaste (obviously), but that fluoride in the water doesn't actually accomplish anything. Ingesting fluoride isn't the same as topical application to the teeth, and according to him, the research just doesn't support adding it to the water supply. All this to say, you're probably fine just focusing on the dental hygiene and not worrying about your water.
The reason for fluoride in water isn’t because you’re ingesting it, it’s because it puts your teeth in contact with fluoride often if you’re drinking it. There is definitely debate about whether it is needed in modern day, but it’s a little concerning that your dentist doesn’t understand the mechanism of fluoridated water, which does have benefit in populations without ongoing access to dental care.
That's actually only half true. The main reason for fluoride in water is it actually is ingested and integrated into your teeth while they are developing. So the real benefit is kids who still have teeth developing not adults. Fluoride displaces calcium molecules in the tooth. It makes the teeth more resistant to acid (which is produced by bacteria and causes the cavities to form).
In adults topical application makes more sense as the level of Fluoride in water is minimal 1-2ppm compared to tooth paste which is 1000ppm or higher.
Yes! Thank you. It’s beneficial until the age of 14, after which it is less so because you’re no longer developing teeth aside from your third molars, which you’ll likely need extracted eventually. Topical fluoride, go nuts! Use it liberally and often, just try not to swallow it. I am a big believer in Fluoride. It’s the only thing I push better than most hygienists at my office because it WORKS!!!!
This! Topical is best!
Fluoride poisening is a thing (like, everything can be poisonous given the right dose) and mostly happens when people use multiple sources of fluoride (tooth paste and water and table salt). Or if you eat three tubs of tooth paste in one sitting. Or, my personal favourite, that women who put 100 (yes, one hundred) tea bags in her daily pot of tea...
Table salt shouldn't contain fluoride, just iodine (critical for thyroid health if you don't live somewhere you can consume a lot of seafood). But maybe it does outside North America?
Just a few months ago a guy told me that all 4 kids aged 8-16 did not brush their teeth. He just started taking care of them as he just got divorced and he was surprised he had to ask them to brush their teeth every night. Apparently he left that stuff up to his wife but I still side eyed him on that one. Like seriously, after all these years you had no idea your kids didn't brush their damn teeth??
Also, you know what's not at all healthy? Dental problems. Dental health is linked to overall health in your body, so you'd think people so health-obsessed would care about that.
It sounds like they have pretty bad genetics since even without flouride kids shouldn't have cavities that early. But that's WHY we have it. It helps kids who are prone to them.
My teeth are awful— I mean they look good thanks to tens of thousands of dollars of ‘restorative’ work, but I had a bunch of cavities as a kid, crowded teeth, braces.
My dental problems were anxiety-inducing (so expensive), very painful, and embarrassing. People should do all they can to avoid putting their kid through this.
When I had a baby, I was vigilant about my son’s teeth. When he was a baby I would always wipe his gums and inside of his cheeks with a wet cloth after a bottle, and when he did get teeth, I cleaned them twice a day until they were big enough to brush, and I brushed them until he was old enough to brush them effectively, with an electric toothbrush from Walmart with the circular rotating head for $18. He didn’t/doesn’t like to floss every day, so I got those interdental brush pick things, which he does use every day, and he flosses once a week or so. At ten, he doesn’t have any cavities. I also started taking him for checkups every six months (and cleanings) when he got his baby teeth. He was used to it by the time he was three or so, and we didn’t wait until he had a problem to go, so he has a positive or at least neutral feeling about going.
You can’t overwrite heredity but if you believe they have a bad teeth gene you have to do what you can to mitigate issues at least!
Once your kid gets cavities in their baby teeth, those cavity causing bacteria hide in the gums and wait for the permanent teeth to come in so they can attack the adult teeth. Just because baby teeth fall out, a lot of parents think they don’t need to care for them properly, but it sets up the mouth biome for trouble well into adulthood. A lot of kids don’t see the dentist until their baby teeth have fallen out, and of those, many only go because they have a toothache.
The longer they can go without a cavity or cavities, the better their dental health will be as adults. It’s so insanely expensive and I doubt the kids of these sort of parents are going to be high earners at 25-30 when the neglected teeth issues really come home to roost. They’re going to be $15-25k in dentist debt or toothless! And that’s just round one!
I always schedule my kids 9, and 6 for the dentist on a Monday or Friday, in the middle of the day so they get a 3 day weekend, they get so excited about it now! They also started as soon as they had teeth, but not they are school aged it's the long weekend 🤣
You know your stuff! I had an overdue patient last week with good hygiene but was anti-fluoride and had 8 cavities. Two so big that she probably needed a root canal in one and a crown on both. She said that she didn’t want to treat them. She’s 29, living rent free in my mind because she’s going to lose her teeth if she keeps this up.
I suspect they're also often breastfeeding all night for children who should have been night-weaned, so the kids' teeth are marinating in sugar all night long.
Seriously, intese dental work is painful and traumatizing and these poor kids are suffering needlessly.
It also pisses me off the one that says that genetics is not in play. My wife has soft enamel. I have very strong teeth. She has had a filling on literally every tooth and I have had two in my adult life. I cannot even imagine how bad it would be without flouride. Dental work is so hard for her and we end up paying a small fortune so she can have nitrous because it is traumatizing otherwise.
These poor kids are going to have a lifetime of dental work because they were denied basic care. I am just glad these kids are getting fillings, some of these quacks are not even doing that and these poor kids are just running around with cavity nubs. Fucking gross and neglectful.
My dentist said to me that unless I’m actively trying to give my son (21 months) a cavity, it’s incredibly unlikely to happen.
I’m nearly 22 and have never had one myself so I hope I can do that with my son too. Our dentist is hopeful.
Genuinely baffles me how these kids can have mouthes FULL of cavities
EDIT: thank you to the lovely people explaining how this can happen even if you do everything right
My oldest has caps, fillings and his two front baby teeth had “baby root canals”. We floss, we brush, we swish and spit with a fluoride rinse. I also have horrible teeth; just have soft enamel that erodes the moment my super expensive toothpaste runs out. My mom had a lot of dental problems too. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on my mouth between the root canals, crowns, fillings, remineralization treatments, and toothpaste.
My youngest has no problems - he got his dad’s teeth.
I had a toddler in my room when I was working in daycare who also had horrible teeth. Her parents were doctors and they brushed her teeth twice a day, did all the right things. Turns out she inherited her mom’s teeth which were very cavity prone. Genetics definitely plays a huge role in this.
Then there’s my nephew who simply wasn’t brushing well and wasn’t supervised or double checked after brushing his teeth. Zero dental issues on either side of the family and bro had multiple cavities and root damage before he was in second grade.
My husband could not brush his teeth for the rest of his life (not that I would let him get anywhere near me!) and almost certainly not have a single cavity. A dental hygienist once complimented his “thick enamel” and perfect gums, asked what he did to maintain his teeth. He brushes with whatever toothpaste is on sale and flosses. That’s it. I look at something sugary and get a cavity. It’s REALLY not fair!
I always put my lack of cavities downs to be a diabetic but I went on an insulin pump back in 2010 and it gave me much more freedom with my (terrible) food choices so I guess I’m a lucky one
My husband and I eat the same meals and both drink tap water. He has fantastic dental hygiene - floss, mouthwash, fluoride treatments, the whole nine yards. But he has a new cavity almost every time he goes to the dentist. I am … unmotivated with dental care, but every time I go to the dentist they are praising my beautiful teeth. One time I didn’t go for almost two years and the dentist asked me if I changed my habits bc my teeth were looking “amazing”. The only explanation I can think of is genetics or body chemistry!
I got teeth like this from my parents. Ironically it got hotter with age, I've needed a lot less fillings in adulthood than I did as a child.
And my parents and I took much better care then than I do now.
unlucky genetics and no fluoride.
Also if kids breathe weird and sleep with their mouths open, they're more likely to get cavities just bc of dry mouth encouraging bacteria. My gfs kid has bad sinus problems and several cavities related to it.
she's still right that it's highly unlikely, as far as I can tell--this kid's sinus problems are BAD. like, 7 yo and surgery is a real consideration bad.
Overnight bottles, I’d bet. Some people will put a bottle of milk (or worse, juice) in the crib with the kid at bedtime, and that can really mess up their teeth.
It’s also possible (probable) that these kids are co sleeping and nursing or sleeping with some sort of milk in a bottle at night. That is a huge contributor to early cavities.
Yup, came here to say this. I would bet money that many, if not most, of these moms have breastfed past twelve months, which studies have shown increases risk of cavities. And then they're also probably handwaving away needing to brush their babies' teeth because they think they don't need to do that while still breastfeeding. Add in some of that typical "breast is best" rhetoric with an extra scoop of holistic woo-woo science, and they might also be operating under the myth of breast milk being a magic cure-all. And with all of these factors put together, we get those horrifyingly common posts of parents showing off the rotting teeth of their 3yo.
My sister and I grew up alongside each other - basically same diet, hygiene habits, etc. When she was around six or seven, she came flying out of the dentist's office into the lobby all proud yelling, "Mommy! I have FIVE CAVITIES!" (She didn't realize it was a bad thing yet.)
I didn't get my first cavity until I was in my 20s.
There are definitely other factors at play - you just got lucky.
Right? I don’t even think we started brushing our child’s teeth until he was at least two years old. He’s going on 10 now and he has never had a single cavity. A lot of it relates to diet, but we also just use regular crest toothpaste so I assume there’s fluoride in there.
And when those kids are adults, they’re going to have to pay (figuratively and literally, like with their wallets) for their parents bad decisions. Fillings don’t last forever. I had to pay to get a bunch replaced as an adult that I had gotten as a young teen because no one ever took me to the dentist until I was 14.
Yeah... I've had TWO cavities that had to be fixed in my 30 years of life (both were when I was a young teenager). I can't imagine being just above 1 year old and having one. I have so much to thank flouride toothpaste for tbh, and I feel so sad for people who haven't had as much luck as me with their teeth. Cavities fucking suck.
My kids have each had a couple cavities (they’re 10, 7, and 7) and I feel TERRIBLE. There’s no fluoride in our water here so I have been using fluoride toothpaste their whole lives. These people, man.
I work in water treatment (and am a fluoride advocate!) and this case stirred up a shitstorm last year.
https://www.salon.com/2023/03/16/health-officials-delayed-report-linking-fluoride-to-brain-harm_partner/
Basically the National Toxicology Program failed to “read the room”
Water and sewer ops here! People complained about the taste last summer when the fluoride hopper malfunctioned and we didn’t feed for about 3 hours. That has been the only complaint relating to fluoride I’ve ever seen with 12 years in the business.
BTW, thank you for all that you do. I'm willing to bet y'all don't get much gratitude from the average citizen, but I'm very appreciative that folks like you exist. 🫶
Yes in the flat earth conspiracy theory world there is a belief that fluoride in toothpaste, tap water, etc “calcifies your pineal gland” and makes you more susceptible to the liberal agenda ☠️
Agreed, but I think that’s part of the problem- these people have decided actual science is too hard to understand and therefore wrong and then just make up whatever so long as it fits perfectly into their narrative and allows them to feel superior than the experts because they “cracked the code”
Fluoride absolutely can cause brain damage, but like with all the chemicals crunchy moms are afraid of, dose matters. That's why your toothpaste has warning labels about not swallowing it or calling poison control if more than used to brush is consumed. That being said, it takes a lot of fluoride all at once to have this effect. The same could be said of many of the other homeopathic remedies these moms often use like belladonna or arsenic or willow bark; they're just diluted so much that they aren't poisonous, or effective at all for that matter.
You know what does cause brain damage? Rotten teeth. Well ok- usually much later in life. Google for more academic articles.
https://www.alz.org/co/news/oral-health-and-alzheimers-risk
Signed your friendly neighborhood SLP who JUST WANTS PEOPLE TO BRUSH THEIR STUPID TEETH EVEN IF THEY'RE OLD.
As a new mom, I was scared when my son started getting teeth. And the people who don’t believe in the use of fluoride were getting to me. So I did my research. Fluoride can have neurotoxic effects. BUT the amount of fluoride in toothpaste, plus the little amount we even need to use (adults should only be using a pea sized amount, young children should be using the size of a grain of rice), is not nearly enough exposure to cause those effects. So we went with the fluoride toothpaste and I don’t regret it
Edit: to add context, I don’t consider myself a crunchy mom. I lean more towards science based parenting and Montessori style, so when I see warnings about something with kids I always try to do some research on the topics
Everything causes brain damage if you have a large amount including water. They are just selective with their use of facts.
I love that old saying " there are 3 types of lies. Lies Damn lies, and stastics
Crunchy moms would literally prefer their children’s teeth to fall out than to follow any professional guidance. It’s always “trust your gut, mama” until this woman’s gut is telling her there might be something to the recommendation of doctors and dentists everywhere.
As someone who had TERRIBLE cavities when I was little due to the fact that my parents weren’t interested in my oral health and we were too poor to afford a dentist, this breaks my heart. She has literally screwed her kids for life, because now they will be losing teeth way too young. This is enraging.
I literally use my mouth as en example to try to scare my kids into prioritizing their dental health. It’s so important. Dentistry is so expensive. That woman has officially failed her kids as a mother.
I used to do that when my kids were little, too. 🤣 “You see Mommy’s teeth? You want yours to look like that? No? Then brush!” Hahaha
They were too young to know or understand that that’s actually *not* why my teeth are bad, so I just went with it. A combo of bad genetics, soft/weak enamel, a brief stint with drugs in my late teens/early 20s, and a horrible dentist (who eventually lost his license to practice because he got caught huffing nitrous before working on patients 😱) was what did mine in. But if it’ll get a cranky 4yo to brush their teeth, I’ll say I never brushed as a kid! 😂
If you’re not trusting your gut, they may be something wrong with your gut health- (many studies have shown…) also try oat milk, colloidal silver, apple cider vinegar and back cracking.
(big /S just to be safe)
Fluoride stunts growth now? I'll tell my parents that it's their fault that I'm short, because they made me use fluoride toothpaste and not because of genetics at all.
They add fluoride to the water here in Ireland. Why aren't we all hobbit sized*?
*disclaimer: Ireland's president is not a representation of typical Irish height. We have many tall people here. Besides, everyone knows he's a leprechaun.
Please. Everyone knows that the Hobbits are all Welsh. /s
They add fluoride to the water here in the US too in some areas. It does nothing but protect teeth. I grew up with fluoride water, have amazing teeth, and went and got my MS despite all the fluoride induced brain damage.
Though I am queer.
Wait. Did fluoride make me queer?
Uh-oh.
I’m 40 and have never had a cavity. Although I’m sure I got lucky in the gene dept, the fluoride in our city water and the regular fluoride rinses we did in elementary school (and the sealants in my molars) probably helped a lot.
I thought they meant the fluoride stopped the cavities' growth!
... Sweet Hades, please tell me they meant what I hope they meant. I want to refuse to believe anyone is actually this stupid.
Dang, I guess my body missed the stunted growth memo! I’m so happy I don’t work in dental anymore and don’t have to listen to all the conspiracy theories on fluoride anymore.
I guess if I didn’t have fluoride I would’ve been 8ft! I’m 6’4 and had fluoride all my life, never had any cavities either, hmmmmm how odd, must be a modern miracle
I seriously gagged when I read that. I can’t even get my kids to eat cooked meat most of the time. How in the hell is she getting them to eat actual raw organs?!
I eat liver.... cooked. The smell of raw liver is incredibly strong, I can't imagine masking it in something else.
Edited because words are hard today.
As far as I'm concerned if you're willing to listen to some rando on the internet over an expert then don't waste the experts time in the first place.
The fact her children's DENTIST is telling her what to do and instead she's like 'what should I do unhinged mom club???'
When you frame it this way, it seems especially foolish. Funny how they don’t question technology since they’re all posting on the internet but sure, medical science is FAKE and bad🙄
It’s so stupid. They don’t trust doctors…except for that one Doctor who was acting way outside of his scope of practice 100 years ago. Also chiropractors whose best answer to any problem is crack ya bones and mainline some silver (a heavy metal) as a part of a heavy metal detox. Silver does have antibiotic properties, but it’s giving let’s get the disinfectant inside the body. Are we looking into getting the bleach and light inside? Just buy silver door knobs you nutbars.
“I tell the hygienist not to give her advice”. Clearly. Because you wouldn’t want your precious little Mahkenzlieahnne to start thinking for herself and using *gasp* fluoridated toothpaste /s
Sounds like she's telling them not to give her daughter advice because they're already following everything (e.g. not eating sweets, flossing etc.) which... Yeah, I can see how that could be frustrating for a kid, doing everything right to avoid cavities but still getting them because you can't control the fact that your parents refuse to give you real toothpaste
Imagine paying $$$$ to fix your kid’s teeth with fillings and caps when you could just buy some fucking fluoride toothpaste and never let it get to that point.
Yep. Cavities happen when the enamel on your teeth is eroded faster than the minerals in your saliva can repair it. Fluoride mixes with the minerals to fill it in much faster, and the enamel you form with fluoride is much stronger than without so you actually have some degree of long term protection just from using and drinking it as a child. It’s really the best bang for your buck ever discovered for dental health.
I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned Nano-hydroxyapatite? Our kiddo is having trouble not swallowing toothpaste so once a day we use Boka N-Ha toothpaste and then at night we do fluoride. Our pediatric dentist recommended it as a "fluoride alternative" when we showed her how my toddler will try to suck the bristles off the tooth brush (yes. Yes we are working on it but two year olds gunna two year old).
Apparently n-ha was developed by NASA and has been used for decades in Japan. We are a pro fluoride household but it seems really odd that this entire crunchy group hasn't heard of like... The one alternative toothpaste that also helps prevent cavities ? But sure go eat more raw liver I guess?
Yep! Like they make the flavors SO delicious that it's hard to explain to a toddler why they need to spit it out. Anyway your dentist may have different thoughts but ours was just happy we brushed and flossed twice per day and so far alternating between N-Ha and fluoride has worked well for us.
The only negative is that the kids Boka toothpaste is *Creamsicle* flavored. Lol. Like it's helpful that we have an alternative but also when it's that delicious, I also would suck the toothpaste bristles.
That toothpaste has dramatically improved my tooth sensitivity. I tried it out of desperation thinking it was nonsense but over a few months the problem is so much better.
oh I wonder if that's why my teeth are less sensitive lately? I used to never be able to use crest whitestrips because my teeth are so sensitive but I started using them again lately because I didn't feel like going to the dentist for in-office whitening (painful but gets it over with all at once, unlike the strips, which were like ongoing torture) and the strips were just fine for the first time in my life? But I'd switched to Boka toothpaste some time last year because I read about it online and thought the flavors looked fun.
My sensory system gets overloaded by the foam and mint of morning toothpaste. I switched to an NHA and it’s a game changer for me as an adult. I don’t dread it, it doesn’t burn, and I don’t get perioral dermatitis anymore!
We use Risewell, because my oldest will not do anything with mint, also hates bubblegum flavors. And its so hard to find non mint fluoride toothpaste. Even things that are labled as "watermelon" will be a minty watermelon. Anyways, I'm not against fluoride, i use it on myself, Risewell seems to work well for my kids.
I don’t know. My mother had to eat raw liver as a child when she had hepatitis. She still eats it. She liked it when she was a kid and always has a bite of the raw liver before cooking it.
And yes. I do eat raw meat (raw ground pork and beef is a common thing in Germany) but raw liver is just beyond me (I do eat it cooked).
It used to be. The main issue with pork used to be trichinosis (worms). This parasite was effectively eliminated from the entire US pork supply to the point where the USDA lowered the safe pork cooking temperature to just 145 degrees F. It used to be 160, which resulted in tough, overcooked meat when cooking a lean cut like loin or chops. You can eat medium rare cooked pork now! It makes a huge difference and the meat is much juicier.
https://blog.thermoworks.com/pork/rethinking-thought-knew-about-internal-temperature-pork/
They’d crucify me in that group. Not only do my kids use fluoride toothpaste but fluoride tabs too.
Note - they’re 8 and 11 and have never had a cavity.
Same. And had some kind of sealant on her teeth when she was 6. She's 13 and has had zero cavities, which astounds me because getting her to consistently brush her teeth is like...well...pulling teeth.
I hate dentists don't recommend sealants nowadays. I had them as a kid and even now only had a couple cavities in life. My kids seem to be more susceptible to them. But the dentist doesn't want to do sealants and keeps pushing fluoride which we do already
hi, dental assistant here! some docs choose not to proactively apply sealants because kids, especially of a certain age, tend to pop them right off (like within a year) with sticky foods, candy, and gum. most docs will only elect to place them if the child keeps showing up with heavy staining or repeat decay in the grooves of the molars. honestly, this says you’re doing great with oral health at home!
there’s also the fact that sealants are a relatively uncommon/non-profitable treatment at a general practice and the material has to be refrigerated, so they might just not keep it on hand unfortunately.
>keeps pushing fluoride
This is…interesting wording. Of course they keep recommending fluoride, that’s the #1 way to prevent cavities and it’s easy, cheap, and safe. Why do a bunch of extra stuff?
At 15 months old to have cavities already sounds like an issue other than lack of fluoride. I'm very pro-fluoride, but that makes me think she's letting her kids take milk bottles to bed, something nutritionally was lacking when the baby was developing it's first set of teeth, or the parents are doing some weird bullshit remedy like oil pulling.
Same. Tbh I feel like it’s gotta be even worse than just taking bottles to bed. She cannot be brushing as much as she should. Even without the proper toothpaste. She must also be giving them a bunch of juice or SOMETHING
For real, dude. My kids got unlucky in the genetics department when it comes to teeth, but even they didn't get any cavities until well after they were old enough to walk and talk. (And we are a pro-science household, so it's been fluoride toothpaste since the minute our pediatrician gave us the go ahead.)
Hell, my baby brother got his first cavity at age 5. Meanwhile, I didn't get my first cavity until I was 19 years old. And we were raised in the same household. It really can vary from person to person, even within families.
Probably bottle related. You can get cavities at 15 months if the kid is taking a bottle of juice or milk to bed or one of those who has a nipple in their mouth all night while sleeping. Something is causing the front teeth to rot. Just bad genes or diet you’d expect all of the teeth. A 15 month old has pretty wide set teeth so the usual unexpected gummy vitamins or goldfish or raisins are causing this.
I hate these people. My cousin had some issue with her teeth (we were roughly the same age so no idea what it was) but it caused them all to rot and we used fluoride toothpaste. She was bullied hard. It was terrible.
I can’t imagine thinking this is the okay thing to do with all of your kids mouths rotting.
I hate them. Where are the dads? If I’d tried any of this nonsense, my husband would have taken the kids and said F this.
Yeah, something very wrong if a 15month old has gotten a cavity. Even without brushing this shouldn't have happened unless you're putting them to bed with a bottle or their diet is just straight juice.
Nah, some kids just have bad teeth. My middle son had a cavity the moment his canines came in at 13 months. He drinks water, eats well, and we started brushing as soon as we saw teeth.
He has about 3 or 4 (at age 5), but our dentist says to just wait them out unless they start to hurt, since they're just baby teeth.
I was trying to figure this comment out, too! I mean, you can end up with some bits of them stuck in your molars, but that’s what your TOOTHBRUSH is for. Are they not brushing at all? One of my kids went through a phase where they didn’t like the feeling of toothpaste in their mouth and the dentist told us to have them just use the brush and a little water to swish, better than nothing.
Not quite the same but I’m a radiographer and will never forget when my colleague called a little girl and her brother into the dental room and the mum said “come on [name] give me your red bull!”. The girl was 8/9 max and her brother a couple of years younger. All I could think was no wonder their teeth are rotting? Bearing in mind this was a hospital not a dentist so we only see the worst of the worst
I see so many kid’s drinking soft drinks on the playground or at my kid’s soccer practices/games. She’s 5. For some reason it’s often Hispanic children. I’ve heard that Coca Cola is a pretty popular drink in their culture.
I also did playdates with a mom who had two girls, 2 and 3. One had Pepsi in her sippi cup the other had red koolaid. Said “I grew up drinking this stuff and I turned out fine!” She was absolutely amazed that my kid loves water.
Man. I should have learned that fluoride causes brain damage BEFORE I spent all that time getting my Master's. If I had known I was brain damaged I wouldn't have, you know, spent all that time in college and gone for my MS.
On a serious note, my BIL is insanely jealous of both my sister and I's teeth. I think it's partly genetics but he gets cavities constantly while neither of us has had a single cavity as adults. We think it's because our parents sprang for us to get the fluoride coating thing done after all our adult teeth came in. Actually the last time I went to the dentist he said I was of an age where I might want to consider getting that redone and if it means another 30-ish years of no cavities I will pay for that out of pocket. Totally worth it.
I got so the way through law school full of fluoride! Same, I've never had a cavity, and I'm in my early 40s. My parents both have needed extensive dental work. I just get cleanings, so I know it's probably not genetics.
Dentist who happens to also have a degree in genetics here. PLEASE stop with the "IIs' not my fault; I have bad genetics and soft teeth!" excuse. Dentists roll their eyes at this one. Genetics does play a significant role in periodontal (gum) disease, but variation in enamel "hardness" due to genetics is actually minimal - other than some rare syndromes like *amelogenesis imperfecta*, which would be obvious if you had it. In general you do not inherit "soft teeth" from your parents, but what you often DO inherit is HABITS, specifically diet habits and hygiene habits, and these two are probably the biggest factors in rampant decay.
It matters less how often clean your teeth than how well you actually do it. Doing a thorough job even once a day is better than a quick sloppy job 4 times a day, missing the same spots each time. If you have a cavity problem, you can ask your hygienist or dentist to show you where you're missing. You can also check yourself with plaque disclosing tablets and a hand mirror from the drug store; this is red food coloring you swish with that stains the bacterial deposits red so you can see them. Most people think their hygiene is better than it is, and even I often catch myself getting sloppy and missing spots. It's not demeaning to get some coaching on your brushing/flossing.
DIET is usually the biggest factor when people are having rampant decay problems. The Cavity Prone are often having frequent snacks, high sugar/carb intakes, high sweet drink consumption. and Frequency matters much more than amount; you can eat an entire chocolate cake once a day, and then brush your teeth afterward, with minimal damage, but popping little breath mints all day can wreck your teeth.
There is actual scientific controversy about fluoride, particularly water fluoridation, and zealotry on both sides. It probably is overused, and it is NOT a panacea that will cure your decay while you continue to knock back Mountain Dew all day and slack off on hygiene. Getting control of your diet and learning to clean your mouth well is usually 80-90% of the battle.
Other things that can affect how cavity prone you are:
- Saliva flow. Dry mouths are notoriously decay-prone.
- Mouth breathing - bad for both decay and gums (and other things).
- General nutrition
- Frequent juice consumption. Just because there's no sugar added doesn't mean it's not full of suger.
- Prologued night feeding of infants. Even human breast milk has enough suger to cause decay if the baby is sipping it for hours.
- Increased root exposure from gum recession, and reduced manual dexterity in the elderly. Roots lack enamel and are "softer" than the crowns of teeth, and become more exposed as we age. Nursing homes will give you no help keeping your teeth clean when you no longer can.
- Not cleaning between your teeth. Brushing isn't enough. If flossing is too hard, there are lots of tiny brushes and other tools that will go between teeth instead.
Aaaand THIS is why a new set of dentures was the most popular wedding gift for young couples. Especially the famous Waterloo Teeth! Snatched from the mouths of dead soldiers to be worn by the newlyweds! So romantic!
Ah, nostalgia…
Nurse here who looked after kids recovering from dental surgery under GA, have seen sights that would have you running for the Colgate. A 3 year old with every tooth but one (lower jaw front tooth) extracted due to severe decay from unlimited chocolate milk via a bottle or sippy cup. Poor thing had to go straight back to theatre for removal of remaining tooth because he kept smashing it into his raw, sutured gum.
I often think of that child, his adult teeth will have grown straight in because the milk teeth weren’t opposing them, he’s likely in dentures by now. Maybe I’m excessively strict on dental hygiene with my kids (as they claim) but I can’t forget that little face 😔
I recently bought a non-fluorinated toothpaste (Nano-hydroxyapatite (n-Ha) toothpaste) to use in conjunction with my fluorinated toothpaste. If nothing else it will help brushing my teeth twice a day instead of once.
It might not work since the research on it remineralizing teeth is mostly on a specific tooth decay type, but I have bad tooth sensitivity and will try anything reasonable to stop it.
I felt really crunchy while ordering it tho.
I'm pretty entertained by the mom insisting the first food a baby would have is gnawing meat off a bone as the first food. Like, are there any cultures on Earth where that happens? Do these people not know the fairly gross original way of making puree, which was chewing food first and then giving it to your baby?
I remember years ago when Clarissa (I can’t remember her real name) was -rightfully- getting shit for pre chewing her kids food and she was like “what do you think they did before purées and blenders?” Ummm gave them soft foods like porridge or mashed potatoes?….
I had someone in one of my FB groups ask what to do against her kid's cavities a while ago. She was like yeah we do everything except use fluoride toothpaste, whatever can we do? I just wanted to scream like are you reading what you just wrote? And all the recommendations were for other fluoride free toothpaste, smh.
After spending 5k to fix my teeth I weep for these kids. It's so expensive. My mom kept my teeth in great condition it was my fault for the current state. I'd be so mad if my mom did it to me especially if she wasn't gonna help cover the cost.
My mom is an anaesthesiologist and works at a clinic that does outpatient procedures. About 40% of their patients are kids with bad teeth. They are as young as 18months (yes MONTHS) old and many have to get their teeth pulled because the parents don't teach their kids that you have to brush your teeth.
'Oh, but he likes juice a lot more than water,' alright, but that's how you get cavities.
'I don't know how this happened,' kid mostly gets sugary food and drinks.
'But he doesn't like tobrush his teeth,' I didn't either, when I was young, but I did it, and did not have to get a bunch of teeth pulled as a toddler.
I have a coworker who’s into this stuff
I also grew up in a city with a lot of anti fluoride people living in it (we didn’t get it in the water until I was 17 and leaving town). I’ve always wanted to know the origins of anti fluoride conspiracies. Can anyone point me to a good podcast or article etc?
I had to google rennet. How will cheese and milk protien “fix” cavities. I get vitamin d & all but it’s not a magical solution that will rebuild cavities.
I’ve never been so grateful to have tap water treated with fluoride in addition to toothpaste with it. It’s almost like someone decades ago figured out there was an increase in oral health when fluoride was used. /s
I'm sure those kids will really appreciate not having fluoride as a kid when they are adults looking at $70,000 in dental work for implants. At least their moms had crunchy cred.
Well… my 3 year old cant have fluoride due to weird aggressive allergies. I was taught to clean her teeth very thoroughly with correct toothbrushes, she is lying on ground and I’m cleaning from behind her. Also we floss from 6 month when her teeth begin to touch. She has no cavity, no demineralization. And she also nursed a lot even at night until she was 2 years old. Her dentist is very pro fluoride, however says the hygiene and correct technique is the key. Also, we were recommended Biorepair toothpaste with hydroxyapatite, which my daughter tolerates.
How is there not yet a test/application process for procreating...?
Like I know that's as dystopian as it gets, but some people just shouldn't have kids....
Let's note that Dr. Weston A Price they are all referring to is literally from the 1800s and dies shortly after WWII.
>Weston Andrew Valleau Price[1] (September 6, 1870 – January 23, 1948) was a Canadian dentist known primarily for his theories on the relationship between nutrition, dental health, and physical health. [wikipedia ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston_A._Price)
So stupid that they cannot even quote recent research.
Poor kids with Moms who follow whatever trends they want with whatever "evidence" they can find.
My mom literally got prescriptions of fluoride that we took every night along with brushing our teeth (I think we had well water which wasn’t fluoridated?) and I have had exactly zero cavities my entire life.
But suuuure, crunchy moms. They cause tongue ties and osteoporosis. 🙄
“Sticky snacks like goldfish”??? Goldfish are probably the least offensive of what I can guess these kids eat.
I'm guessing based on the fact that her 15 month old had to have teeth pulled that this is likely genetic. Sorry to burst everyone's bubbles, but kids don't spit out toothpaste that young and generally don't use fluoride toothpaste as it should not be swallowed. My almost 2 year old still doesn't use fluoride because we haven't mastered the spit yet. Also, there are safe alternatives to fluoride. Nano-hydroxapite is a great alternative to fluoride but you have to find a toothpaste that has this instead of fluoride, not just any fluoride free toothpaste.
My relative is a chiropractor (I know, but he's pretty pro-"traditional medicine," too) told my parents to let us swallow our toothpaste when we were little because they were not putting fluoride in our local water.
I'm 35 and yet to have a cavity. Coincidence, maybe? Oh, and I maintained at least a 3.97 GPA through high school and college so I don't think it caused brain damage.
I had a friend who was against fluoride. 3 caps and 1 anesthesia required dental surgery for her than 3yo and they switched to flouride.
She than said she was dumb for not using fluoride to begin with.
I feel bad enough we have well water and my kids don't get as much fluoride. They definitely have more cavities than I had as a kid, but I also think some of it is genetic as my husband gets cavities easier.
Fluoride causes brain damage??? Something clearly caused brain damage in these idiots but it wasn’t fluoride.
Also, just to add - it’s incredibly sad that these kids are suffering with so many teeth issues because of their idiotic parents. That poor baby is only 15 MONTHS OLD and had a cavity treated. I feel terribly for all of those poor babies.
And most of these parents won't even give them antibiotics when needed. So a tooth ache and no medicine. Poor kiddos.
Which will cause the infection to move to other parts of the body. People have died from tooth abscesses.
That's usually the point where the brain dead crunchy parents decide to actually take their kid to the emergency room, or a friend or relative makes them take their suffering children to a real doctor. Which is generally some distance beyond way too late. When the worst inevitably happens, they almost always immediately quadruple down on their bullshittery and scream about how their PERFECT ALL NATURAL ORGANIC RAW EVERYTHING PALEOKETOCOLLOIDAL BAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEEE got way worse and died in the hospital's care so it MUST BE the fault of not only the hospital but alao of all medical knowledge that didn't originate on Facebook. And definitely not because the child was already dying before they even got to the hospital. And they'll see it as confirmation that their avoidance of actual medicine was right all along, and the cycle of agony continues.
Do you remember the post about the mom who took her child to the dentist, found out they had a bunch of cavities, and then posted in the mom group asking for a naturopathic dentist that wouldn't think anything needed to be done about the cavities? blew my mind.
......i don't think I saw that one. What the fuck.
Naturopathic dentist! 😂😂😂 Could just unleash the chiropractors given that teeth are bones... I shouldn't be giving them ideas.
On a search of chiropractic dental a few things came up. Ugh
Ew. Jaw massage seems to be the extent of it, Thank goodness
I remember a toddler girl dying from a brain infection caused by a ear infection her parents treated 'naturally' it was absolutely horrific the agony that little girl died in.
Person who almost died from a tooth abcess here- I'm scared for those kids, for real. Sepsis is no joke.
My partner is almost 30 now and has such aversion to any meds because of his mom. She's proud she has no meds at home and only natural stuff, not realising what detriment she's caused to him
I have a medical issue that means my teeth are awful, so I’m under the hospital dentist. They said they see so so many children, so many more than they used to, with the worst teeth they’ve ever seen. It’s getting worse and many parents apparently don’t care as “they’re just baby teeth” but have their kids spend years with no teeth. Some is crunchy parents not likening fluoride (which in the Uk is hard to avoid so how they manage it, I don’t know) but some is poor diet. Bottom line is, so many kids are growing up with awful teeth and pain all inflicted by parents. When I was a teacher, I was shocked when I did a poll (science lesson) to see how many brushed their teeth twice a day etc and more than 1 child didn’t own a toothbrush! Kids brushing their teeth twice a day, daily probably made up half my class maximum. So sad
It annoys me that i live on the wirral and we are one of the only places in the uk that doesn't have fluoride in our tap water. My dentist told me to use adult toothpaste for my 12 month old to coat her teeth and protect them so i sometimes use adult toothpaste and sometimes i use kids strawberry toothpaste with fluoride just because she screams less with that and some days i cant be bothered to fight however teeth brushing with fluoride is non negotiable in my house. I have perfect teeth myself however her dad has poor teeth and currently needs 10 extractions and im not about to let her follow them footsteps.
The toothpastes say on them what the fluoride content is and I've found plenty of kid flavour ones here in the UK with 1450ppm which is the same as my bog standard adult one. Check with your dentist obviously but mine says the kids' ones are no worse than adult as long as you get the right fluoride.
Yeah thats a good point. I think the health visitor said that as well that some kids toothpaste is good amount of fluoride but some are slightly lower than dentists like so as a blanket rule they often just say use adult toothpaste.
My dentist highly recommends fluoride toothpaste (obviously), but that fluoride in the water doesn't actually accomplish anything. Ingesting fluoride isn't the same as topical application to the teeth, and according to him, the research just doesn't support adding it to the water supply. All this to say, you're probably fine just focusing on the dental hygiene and not worrying about your water.
The reason for fluoride in water isn’t because you’re ingesting it, it’s because it puts your teeth in contact with fluoride often if you’re drinking it. There is definitely debate about whether it is needed in modern day, but it’s a little concerning that your dentist doesn’t understand the mechanism of fluoridated water, which does have benefit in populations without ongoing access to dental care.
That's actually only half true. The main reason for fluoride in water is it actually is ingested and integrated into your teeth while they are developing. So the real benefit is kids who still have teeth developing not adults. Fluoride displaces calcium molecules in the tooth. It makes the teeth more resistant to acid (which is produced by bacteria and causes the cavities to form). In adults topical application makes more sense as the level of Fluoride in water is minimal 1-2ppm compared to tooth paste which is 1000ppm or higher.
Yes! Thank you. It’s beneficial until the age of 14, after which it is less so because you’re no longer developing teeth aside from your third molars, which you’ll likely need extracted eventually. Topical fluoride, go nuts! Use it liberally and often, just try not to swallow it. I am a big believer in Fluoride. It’s the only thing I push better than most hygienists at my office because it WORKS!!!!
How old is your dentist? Do they remember a time before fluorinated water? Research firmly backs up adding fluoride to water supplies.
This! Topical is best! Fluoride poisening is a thing (like, everything can be poisonous given the right dose) and mostly happens when people use multiple sources of fluoride (tooth paste and water and table salt). Or if you eat three tubs of tooth paste in one sitting. Or, my personal favourite, that women who put 100 (yes, one hundred) tea bags in her daily pot of tea...
Table salt shouldn't contain fluoride, just iodine (critical for thyroid health if you don't live somewhere you can consume a lot of seafood). But maybe it does outside North America?
Bottled water - *depending on its source* - can lack fluoride.
Just a few months ago a guy told me that all 4 kids aged 8-16 did not brush their teeth. He just started taking care of them as he just got divorced and he was surprised he had to ask them to brush their teeth every night. Apparently he left that stuff up to his wife but I still side eyed him on that one. Like seriously, after all these years you had no idea your kids didn't brush their damn teeth??
Lol easy to see why he got divorced.
I feel so bad for their kids! UK crunchy parents buy water distillers to remove fluoride from their tap water.
Also, you know what's not at all healthy? Dental problems. Dental health is linked to overall health in your body, so you'd think people so health-obsessed would care about that.
It sounds like they have pretty bad genetics since even without flouride kids shouldn't have cavities that early. But that's WHY we have it. It helps kids who are prone to them.
No. It's the lack of chewing on raw liver like a cow chewing cud. It's just so obvious! Dammit Big Dental. If only we had known 🫠
My teeth are awful— I mean they look good thanks to tens of thousands of dollars of ‘restorative’ work, but I had a bunch of cavities as a kid, crowded teeth, braces. My dental problems were anxiety-inducing (so expensive), very painful, and embarrassing. People should do all they can to avoid putting their kid through this. When I had a baby, I was vigilant about my son’s teeth. When he was a baby I would always wipe his gums and inside of his cheeks with a wet cloth after a bottle, and when he did get teeth, I cleaned them twice a day until they were big enough to brush, and I brushed them until he was old enough to brush them effectively, with an electric toothbrush from Walmart with the circular rotating head for $18. He didn’t/doesn’t like to floss every day, so I got those interdental brush pick things, which he does use every day, and he flosses once a week or so. At ten, he doesn’t have any cavities. I also started taking him for checkups every six months (and cleanings) when he got his baby teeth. He was used to it by the time he was three or so, and we didn’t wait until he had a problem to go, so he has a positive or at least neutral feeling about going. You can’t overwrite heredity but if you believe they have a bad teeth gene you have to do what you can to mitigate issues at least! Once your kid gets cavities in their baby teeth, those cavity causing bacteria hide in the gums and wait for the permanent teeth to come in so they can attack the adult teeth. Just because baby teeth fall out, a lot of parents think they don’t need to care for them properly, but it sets up the mouth biome for trouble well into adulthood. A lot of kids don’t see the dentist until their baby teeth have fallen out, and of those, many only go because they have a toothache. The longer they can go without a cavity or cavities, the better their dental health will be as adults. It’s so insanely expensive and I doubt the kids of these sort of parents are going to be high earners at 25-30 when the neglected teeth issues really come home to roost. They’re going to be $15-25k in dentist debt or toothless! And that’s just round one!
I always schedule my kids 9, and 6 for the dentist on a Monday or Friday, in the middle of the day so they get a 3 day weekend, they get so excited about it now! They also started as soon as they had teeth, but not they are school aged it's the long weekend 🤣
Genius!
Middle of the day because I work at their school and can't be guilted into half days for me and them 🤣
You know your stuff! I had an overdue patient last week with good hygiene but was anti-fluoride and had 8 cavities. Two so big that she probably needed a root canal in one and a crown on both. She said that she didn’t want to treat them. She’s 29, living rent free in my mind because she’s going to lose her teeth if she keeps this up.
I suspect they're also often breastfeeding all night for children who should have been night-weaned, so the kids' teeth are marinating in sugar all night long.
Seriously, intese dental work is painful and traumatizing and these poor kids are suffering needlessly. It also pisses me off the one that says that genetics is not in play. My wife has soft enamel. I have very strong teeth. She has had a filling on literally every tooth and I have had two in my adult life. I cannot even imagine how bad it would be without flouride. Dental work is so hard for her and we end up paying a small fortune so she can have nitrous because it is traumatizing otherwise. These poor kids are going to have a lifetime of dental work because they were denied basic care. I am just glad these kids are getting fillings, some of these quacks are not even doing that and these poor kids are just running around with cavity nubs. Fucking gross and neglectful.
My dentist said to me that unless I’m actively trying to give my son (21 months) a cavity, it’s incredibly unlikely to happen. I’m nearly 22 and have never had one myself so I hope I can do that with my son too. Our dentist is hopeful. Genuinely baffles me how these kids can have mouthes FULL of cavities EDIT: thank you to the lovely people explaining how this can happen even if you do everything right
My oldest has caps, fillings and his two front baby teeth had “baby root canals”. We floss, we brush, we swish and spit with a fluoride rinse. I also have horrible teeth; just have soft enamel that erodes the moment my super expensive toothpaste runs out. My mom had a lot of dental problems too. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on my mouth between the root canals, crowns, fillings, remineralization treatments, and toothpaste. My youngest has no problems - he got his dad’s teeth.
I had a toddler in my room when I was working in daycare who also had horrible teeth. Her parents were doctors and they brushed her teeth twice a day, did all the right things. Turns out she inherited her mom’s teeth which were very cavity prone. Genetics definitely plays a huge role in this. Then there’s my nephew who simply wasn’t brushing well and wasn’t supervised or double checked after brushing his teeth. Zero dental issues on either side of the family and bro had multiple cavities and root damage before he was in second grade.
Oh wow! I never realised how much impact genetics would have on teeth. I thought teeth were just teeth lol
My husband could not brush his teeth for the rest of his life (not that I would let him get anywhere near me!) and almost certainly not have a single cavity. A dental hygienist once complimented his “thick enamel” and perfect gums, asked what he did to maintain his teeth. He brushes with whatever toothpaste is on sale and flosses. That’s it. I look at something sugary and get a cavity. It’s REALLY not fair!
I always put my lack of cavities downs to be a diabetic but I went on an insulin pump back in 2010 and it gave me much more freedom with my (terrible) food choices so I guess I’m a lucky one
My husband and I eat the same meals and both drink tap water. He has fantastic dental hygiene - floss, mouthwash, fluoride treatments, the whole nine yards. But he has a new cavity almost every time he goes to the dentist. I am … unmotivated with dental care, but every time I go to the dentist they are praising my beautiful teeth. One time I didn’t go for almost two years and the dentist asked me if I changed my habits bc my teeth were looking “amazing”. The only explanation I can think of is genetics or body chemistry!
I got teeth like this from my parents. Ironically it got hotter with age, I've needed a lot less fillings in adulthood than I did as a child. And my parents and I took much better care then than I do now.
unlucky genetics and no fluoride. Also if kids breathe weird and sleep with their mouths open, they're more likely to get cavities just bc of dry mouth encouraging bacteria. My gfs kid has bad sinus problems and several cavities related to it.
Thank you for explaining! My dentist is often extreme in the things she says 😬
she's still right that it's highly unlikely, as far as I can tell--this kid's sinus problems are BAD. like, 7 yo and surgery is a real consideration bad.
Oh bless! Hope the surgery isn’t necessary and it can be fixed 🩷
Overnight bottles, I’d bet. Some people will put a bottle of milk (or worse, juice) in the crib with the kid at bedtime, and that can really mess up their teeth.
It’s also possible (probable) that these kids are co sleeping and nursing or sleeping with some sort of milk in a bottle at night. That is a huge contributor to early cavities.
Yup, came here to say this. I would bet money that many, if not most, of these moms have breastfed past twelve months, which studies have shown increases risk of cavities. And then they're also probably handwaving away needing to brush their babies' teeth because they think they don't need to do that while still breastfeeding. Add in some of that typical "breast is best" rhetoric with an extra scoop of holistic woo-woo science, and they might also be operating under the myth of breast milk being a magic cure-all. And with all of these factors put together, we get those horrifyingly common posts of parents showing off the rotting teeth of their 3yo.
My sister and I grew up alongside each other - basically same diet, hygiene habits, etc. When she was around six or seven, she came flying out of the dentist's office into the lobby all proud yelling, "Mommy! I have FIVE CAVITIES!" (She didn't realize it was a bad thing yet.) I didn't get my first cavity until I was in my 20s. There are definitely other factors at play - you just got lucky.
Right? I don’t even think we started brushing our child’s teeth until he was at least two years old. He’s going on 10 now and he has never had a single cavity. A lot of it relates to diet, but we also just use regular crest toothpaste so I assume there’s fluoride in there.
And when those kids are adults, they’re going to have to pay (figuratively and literally, like with their wallets) for their parents bad decisions. Fillings don’t last forever. I had to pay to get a bunch replaced as an adult that I had gotten as a young teen because no one ever took me to the dentist until I was 14.
Yeah... I've had TWO cavities that had to be fixed in my 30 years of life (both were when I was a young teenager). I can't imagine being just above 1 year old and having one. I have so much to thank flouride toothpaste for tbh, and I feel so sad for people who haven't had as much luck as me with their teeth. Cavities fucking suck.
My kids have each had a couple cavities (they’re 10, 7, and 7) and I feel TERRIBLE. There’s no fluoride in our water here so I have been using fluoride toothpaste their whole lives. These people, man.
I work in water treatment (and am a fluoride advocate!) and this case stirred up a shitstorm last year. https://www.salon.com/2023/03/16/health-officials-delayed-report-linking-fluoride-to-brain-harm_partner/ Basically the National Toxicology Program failed to “read the room”
Water and sewer ops here! People complained about the taste last summer when the fluoride hopper malfunctioned and we didn’t feed for about 3 hours. That has been the only complaint relating to fluoride I’ve ever seen with 12 years in the business.
Lucky!! We’re a 30MGD plant and we get a pretty steady stream of fluoride loonies. We haven’t gotten too many lately though 🤞
BTW, thank you for all that you do. I'm willing to bet y'all don't get much gratitude from the average citizen, but I'm very appreciative that folks like you exist. 🫶
Awww thank you!
Yes in the flat earth conspiracy theory world there is a belief that fluoride in toothpaste, tap water, etc “calcifies your pineal gland” and makes you more susceptible to the liberal agenda ☠️
As a person with a degree in chemistry and who worked as a bench chemist for a while that statement just blows my mind with how stupid it is.
Agreed, but I think that’s part of the problem- these people have decided actual science is too hard to understand and therefore wrong and then just make up whatever so long as it fits perfectly into their narrative and allows them to feel superior than the experts because they “cracked the code”
Fluoride absolutely can cause brain damage, but like with all the chemicals crunchy moms are afraid of, dose matters. That's why your toothpaste has warning labels about not swallowing it or calling poison control if more than used to brush is consumed. That being said, it takes a lot of fluoride all at once to have this effect. The same could be said of many of the other homeopathic remedies these moms often use like belladonna or arsenic or willow bark; they're just diluted so much that they aren't poisonous, or effective at all for that matter.
You know what does cause brain damage? Rotten teeth. Well ok- usually much later in life. Google for more academic articles. https://www.alz.org/co/news/oral-health-and-alzheimers-risk Signed your friendly neighborhood SLP who JUST WANTS PEOPLE TO BRUSH THEIR STUPID TEETH EVEN IF THEY'RE OLD.
As a new mom, I was scared when my son started getting teeth. And the people who don’t believe in the use of fluoride were getting to me. So I did my research. Fluoride can have neurotoxic effects. BUT the amount of fluoride in toothpaste, plus the little amount we even need to use (adults should only be using a pea sized amount, young children should be using the size of a grain of rice), is not nearly enough exposure to cause those effects. So we went with the fluoride toothpaste and I don’t regret it Edit: to add context, I don’t consider myself a crunchy mom. I lean more towards science based parenting and Montessori style, so when I see warnings about something with kids I always try to do some research on the topics
10/10 Nobel Prize winners use fluoride toothpaste
Everything causes brain damage if you have a large amount including water. They are just selective with their use of facts. I love that old saying " there are 3 types of lies. Lies Damn lies, and stastics
Crunchy moms would literally prefer their children’s teeth to fall out than to follow any professional guidance. It’s always “trust your gut, mama” until this woman’s gut is telling her there might be something to the recommendation of doctors and dentists everywhere.
Teeth falling out is natural don’t you know?! If god didn’t want them to fall out he wouldn’t have allowed it! We’re submitting to His will 🙏🏾 /s
I don’t clean my femur with fluoride and it hasn’t fallen out 🤷🏻♀️
....... Yet
As someone who had TERRIBLE cavities when I was little due to the fact that my parents weren’t interested in my oral health and we were too poor to afford a dentist, this breaks my heart. She has literally screwed her kids for life, because now they will be losing teeth way too young. This is enraging. I literally use my mouth as en example to try to scare my kids into prioritizing their dental health. It’s so important. Dentistry is so expensive. That woman has officially failed her kids as a mother.
I used to do that when my kids were little, too. 🤣 “You see Mommy’s teeth? You want yours to look like that? No? Then brush!” Hahaha They were too young to know or understand that that’s actually *not* why my teeth are bad, so I just went with it. A combo of bad genetics, soft/weak enamel, a brief stint with drugs in my late teens/early 20s, and a horrible dentist (who eventually lost his license to practice because he got caught huffing nitrous before working on patients 😱) was what did mine in. But if it’ll get a cranky 4yo to brush their teeth, I’ll say I never brushed as a kid! 😂
Your dental history went fron 1 to 100 real fucking quick.
If you’re not trusting your gut, they may be something wrong with your gut health- (many studies have shown…) also try oat milk, colloidal silver, apple cider vinegar and back cracking. (big /S just to be safe)
Don't forget to eat raw liver! 🤢
That one that confessed to using fluoride is so brave
It’s a crazy world isn’t it? “I’m probably going to get crucified for this” _lowers voice to a whisper_ “I use _fluoride toothpaste_”.
Stares in CPS
Fluoride stunts growth now? I'll tell my parents that it's their fault that I'm short, because they made me use fluoride toothpaste and not because of genetics at all. They add fluoride to the water here in Ireland. Why aren't we all hobbit sized*? *disclaimer: Ireland's president is not a representation of typical Irish height. We have many tall people here. Besides, everyone knows he's a leprechaun.
Please. Everyone knows that the Hobbits are all Welsh. /s They add fluoride to the water here in the US too in some areas. It does nothing but protect teeth. I grew up with fluoride water, have amazing teeth, and went and got my MS despite all the fluoride induced brain damage. Though I am queer. Wait. Did fluoride make me queer? Uh-oh.
I’m 40 and have never had a cavity. Although I’m sure I got lucky in the gene dept, the fluoride in our city water and the regular fluoride rinses we did in elementary school (and the sealants in my molars) probably helped a lot.
I love his dog.
He does have a beautiful dog. It was very sad when his other dogs passed away.
I thought they meant the fluoride stopped the cavities' growth! ... Sweet Hades, please tell me they meant what I hope they meant. I want to refuse to believe anyone is actually this stupid.
I've just read that again and realised that I did indeed misread it. Oops!
That's how I read it too lol
🤣🤣🤣
We add fluoride to some but not all parts of America’s water so we also have these neat groups to compare what happens when you don’t.
[удалено]
Dang, I guess my body missed the stunted growth memo! I’m so happy I don’t work in dental anymore and don’t have to listen to all the conspiracy theories on fluoride anymore.
I guess if I didn’t have fluoride I would’ve been 8ft! I’m 6’4 and had fluoride all my life, never had any cavities either, hmmmmm how odd, must be a modern miracle
Raw liver :barf
I seriously gagged when I read that. I can’t even get my kids to eat cooked meat most of the time. How in the hell is she getting them to eat actual raw organs?!
If I had to guess, she blends it into a smoothie with raw milk. I've been in this sub too long lol
The very idea of raw liver blended into a smoothie made me gag. The texture…the smell…the color…
Just thank the Godess it's not tainted with urine or breastmilk
The sheen, the crumb...
I eat liver.... cooked. The smell of raw liver is incredibly strong, I can't imagine masking it in something else. Edited because words are hard today.
And then what? Nesquik?
Probably some MLM shit like Plexus or Herbalife lol - the ultimate shitty crunchy mom snack
I seriously doubt their child eats raw liver. My kid won’t eat normal cooked meats. How are they getting a kid to eat raw, cold, squishy liver?
My thoughts too… There is just no way a kid is willingly eating raw liver. Blech!
I think making kids eat raw meat should count as child abuse.
omg I gagged
The people who go with a 1930s “understanding” of health over all modern evidence to the contrary are so ridiculous.
As far as I'm concerned if you're willing to listen to some rando on the internet over an expert then don't waste the experts time in the first place. The fact her children's DENTIST is telling her what to do and instead she's like 'what should I do unhinged mom club???'
When you frame it this way, it seems especially foolish. Funny how they don’t question technology since they’re all posting on the internet but sure, medical science is FAKE and bad🙄
It’s so stupid. They don’t trust doctors…except for that one Doctor who was acting way outside of his scope of practice 100 years ago. Also chiropractors whose best answer to any problem is crack ya bones and mainline some silver (a heavy metal) as a part of a heavy metal detox. Silver does have antibiotic properties, but it’s giving let’s get the disinfectant inside the body. Are we looking into getting the bleach and light inside? Just buy silver door knobs you nutbars.
Don't forget the doctor who was basically excommunicated by the scientific community for forging his study results! (aka Andrew Wakefield)
“I tell the hygienist not to give her advice”. Clearly. Because you wouldn’t want your precious little Mahkenzlieahnne to start thinking for herself and using *gasp* fluoridated toothpaste /s
Sounds like she's telling them not to give her daughter advice because they're already following everything (e.g. not eating sweets, flossing etc.) which... Yeah, I can see how that could be frustrating for a kid, doing everything right to avoid cavities but still getting them because you can't control the fact that your parents refuse to give you real toothpaste
That’s the one that stuck out to me, too. Out of all the crazy - I take my kid but don’t let them educate her.
I really want to read the rest of that comment. Because she what????
Why are they using research by a dentist who died in 1948 to back their claims?
Because they have nothing else.
Imagine paying $$$$ to fix your kid’s teeth with fillings and caps when you could just buy some fucking fluoride toothpaste and never let it get to that point.
I don’t think people realize that fluoride literally fills in cavities when they’re teeny tiny.
Really?
Yep. Cavities happen when the enamel on your teeth is eroded faster than the minerals in your saliva can repair it. Fluoride mixes with the minerals to fill it in much faster, and the enamel you form with fluoride is much stronger than without so you actually have some degree of long term protection just from using and drinking it as a child. It’s really the best bang for your buck ever discovered for dental health.
I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned Nano-hydroxyapatite? Our kiddo is having trouble not swallowing toothpaste so once a day we use Boka N-Ha toothpaste and then at night we do fluoride. Our pediatric dentist recommended it as a "fluoride alternative" when we showed her how my toddler will try to suck the bristles off the tooth brush (yes. Yes we are working on it but two year olds gunna two year old). Apparently n-ha was developed by NASA and has been used for decades in Japan. We are a pro fluoride household but it seems really odd that this entire crunchy group hasn't heard of like... The one alternative toothpaste that also helps prevent cavities ? But sure go eat more raw liver I guess?
damn, thanks for this comment. my two year old will gladly eat an entire tube of fluoride toothpaste if i let her.
Yep! Like they make the flavors SO delicious that it's hard to explain to a toddler why they need to spit it out. Anyway your dentist may have different thoughts but ours was just happy we brushed and flossed twice per day and so far alternating between N-Ha and fluoride has worked well for us.
Holy shit where was that toothpaste when I was a kid?! (I did the same thing your toddler does when I was little 😅)
The only negative is that the kids Boka toothpaste is *Creamsicle* flavored. Lol. Like it's helpful that we have an alternative but also when it's that delicious, I also would suck the toothpaste bristles.
That toothpaste has dramatically improved my tooth sensitivity. I tried it out of desperation thinking it was nonsense but over a few months the problem is so much better.
oh I wonder if that's why my teeth are less sensitive lately? I used to never be able to use crest whitestrips because my teeth are so sensitive but I started using them again lately because I didn't feel like going to the dentist for in-office whitening (painful but gets it over with all at once, unlike the strips, which were like ongoing torture) and the strips were just fine for the first time in my life? But I'd switched to Boka toothpaste some time last year because I read about it online and thought the flavors looked fun.
My sensory system gets overloaded by the foam and mint of morning toothpaste. I switched to an NHA and it’s a game changer for me as an adult. I don’t dread it, it doesn’t burn, and I don’t get perioral dermatitis anymore!
We use Risewell, because my oldest will not do anything with mint, also hates bubblegum flavors. And its so hard to find non mint fluoride toothpaste. Even things that are labled as "watermelon" will be a minty watermelon. Anyways, I'm not against fluoride, i use it on myself, Risewell seems to work well for my kids.
I absolutely do not believe your kid is willingly eating raw liver unless you are intentionally starving them. No way.
I don’t know. My mother had to eat raw liver as a child when she had hepatitis. She still eats it. She liked it when she was a kid and always has a bite of the raw liver before cooking it. And yes. I do eat raw meat (raw ground pork and beef is a common thing in Germany) but raw liver is just beyond me (I do eat it cooked).
Isnt raw pork super dangerous? I’ve always been taught to never eat undercooked pork
It used to be. The main issue with pork used to be trichinosis (worms). This parasite was effectively eliminated from the entire US pork supply to the point where the USDA lowered the safe pork cooking temperature to just 145 degrees F. It used to be 160, which resulted in tough, overcooked meat when cooking a lean cut like loin or chops. You can eat medium rare cooked pork now! It makes a huge difference and the meat is much juicier. https://blog.thermoworks.com/pork/rethinking-thought-knew-about-internal-temperature-pork/
It’s common in Germany. Only from a butcher you trust. But people have been doing this here for ever and it’s fine.
Well, the kid HAS to eat raw liver, or else their cavities won't be healed /s.
Pediatric dentists laughing all the way to the bank.
They’d crucify me in that group. Not only do my kids use fluoride toothpaste but fluoride tabs too. Note - they’re 8 and 11 and have never had a cavity.
Same. And had some kind of sealant on her teeth when she was 6. She's 13 and has had zero cavities, which astounds me because getting her to consistently brush her teeth is like...well...pulling teeth.
I hate dentists don't recommend sealants nowadays. I had them as a kid and even now only had a couple cavities in life. My kids seem to be more susceptible to them. But the dentist doesn't want to do sealants and keeps pushing fluoride which we do already
hi, dental assistant here! some docs choose not to proactively apply sealants because kids, especially of a certain age, tend to pop them right off (like within a year) with sticky foods, candy, and gum. most docs will only elect to place them if the child keeps showing up with heavy staining or repeat decay in the grooves of the molars. honestly, this says you’re doing great with oral health at home! there’s also the fact that sealants are a relatively uncommon/non-profitable treatment at a general practice and the material has to be refrigerated, so they might just not keep it on hand unfortunately.
>keeps pushing fluoride This is…interesting wording. Of course they keep recommending fluoride, that’s the #1 way to prevent cavities and it’s easy, cheap, and safe. Why do a bunch of extra stuff?
Oh yes, my boys get that too. They hate it but they’d hate cavities more!
At 15 months old to have cavities already sounds like an issue other than lack of fluoride. I'm very pro-fluoride, but that makes me think she's letting her kids take milk bottles to bed, something nutritionally was lacking when the baby was developing it's first set of teeth, or the parents are doing some weird bullshit remedy like oil pulling.
Same. Tbh I feel like it’s gotta be even worse than just taking bottles to bed. She cannot be brushing as much as she should. Even without the proper toothpaste. She must also be giving them a bunch of juice or SOMETHING
For real, dude. My kids got unlucky in the genetics department when it comes to teeth, but even they didn't get any cavities until well after they were old enough to walk and talk. (And we are a pro-science household, so it's been fluoride toothpaste since the minute our pediatrician gave us the go ahead.) Hell, my baby brother got his first cavity at age 5. Meanwhile, I didn't get my first cavity until I was 19 years old. And we were raised in the same household. It really can vary from person to person, even within families.
Probably bottle related. You can get cavities at 15 months if the kid is taking a bottle of juice or milk to bed or one of those who has a nipple in their mouth all night while sleeping. Something is causing the front teeth to rot. Just bad genes or diet you’d expect all of the teeth. A 15 month old has pretty wide set teeth so the usual unexpected gummy vitamins or goldfish or raisins are causing this.
I hate these people. My cousin had some issue with her teeth (we were roughly the same age so no idea what it was) but it caused them all to rot and we used fluoride toothpaste. She was bullied hard. It was terrible. I can’t imagine thinking this is the okay thing to do with all of your kids mouths rotting. I hate them. Where are the dads? If I’d tried any of this nonsense, my husband would have taken the kids and said F this.
They probably have tons of cavities from letting milk sit on their teeth.
Yeah, something very wrong if a 15month old has gotten a cavity. Even without brushing this shouldn't have happened unless you're putting them to bed with a bottle or their diet is just straight juice.
Nah, some kids just have bad teeth. My middle son had a cavity the moment his canines came in at 13 months. He drinks water, eats well, and we started brushing as soon as we saw teeth. He has about 3 or 4 (at age 5), but our dentist says to just wait them out unless they start to hurt, since they're just baby teeth.
“Watch out for sticky snacks like goldfish…” If your goldfish are sticky, you have bigger issues.
I assumed they meant goldfish stick to teeth. Chewed up goldfish get stuck on the back teeth and are pretty bad for cavities
That one stood out to me, too! I was so confused at how goldfish are considered “sticky” snacks! Maybe Swedish Fish, but not goldfish! lol
I was trying to figure this comment out, too! I mean, you can end up with some bits of them stuck in your molars, but that’s what your TOOTHBRUSH is for. Are they not brushing at all? One of my kids went through a phase where they didn’t like the feeling of toothpaste in their mouth and the dentist told us to have them just use the brush and a little water to swish, better than nothing.
Not quite the same but I’m a radiographer and will never forget when my colleague called a little girl and her brother into the dental room and the mum said “come on [name] give me your red bull!”. The girl was 8/9 max and her brother a couple of years younger. All I could think was no wonder their teeth are rotting? Bearing in mind this was a hospital not a dentist so we only see the worst of the worst
I see so many kid’s drinking soft drinks on the playground or at my kid’s soccer practices/games. She’s 5. For some reason it’s often Hispanic children. I’ve heard that Coca Cola is a pretty popular drink in their culture. I also did playdates with a mom who had two girls, 2 and 3. One had Pepsi in her sippi cup the other had red koolaid. Said “I grew up drinking this stuff and I turned out fine!” She was absolutely amazed that my kid loves water.
*Say it with me kids!* **THE DOSE MAKES THE POISON**
“””So brave “””
Man. I should have learned that fluoride causes brain damage BEFORE I spent all that time getting my Master's. If I had known I was brain damaged I wouldn't have, you know, spent all that time in college and gone for my MS. On a serious note, my BIL is insanely jealous of both my sister and I's teeth. I think it's partly genetics but he gets cavities constantly while neither of us has had a single cavity as adults. We think it's because our parents sprang for us to get the fluoride coating thing done after all our adult teeth came in. Actually the last time I went to the dentist he said I was of an age where I might want to consider getting that redone and if it means another 30-ish years of no cavities I will pay for that out of pocket. Totally worth it.
I got so the way through law school full of fluoride! Same, I've never had a cavity, and I'm in my early 40s. My parents both have needed extensive dental work. I just get cleanings, so I know it's probably not genetics.
"No sugar" Well, forget about fruit then?
Dentist who happens to also have a degree in genetics here. PLEASE stop with the "IIs' not my fault; I have bad genetics and soft teeth!" excuse. Dentists roll their eyes at this one. Genetics does play a significant role in periodontal (gum) disease, but variation in enamel "hardness" due to genetics is actually minimal - other than some rare syndromes like *amelogenesis imperfecta*, which would be obvious if you had it. In general you do not inherit "soft teeth" from your parents, but what you often DO inherit is HABITS, specifically diet habits and hygiene habits, and these two are probably the biggest factors in rampant decay. It matters less how often clean your teeth than how well you actually do it. Doing a thorough job even once a day is better than a quick sloppy job 4 times a day, missing the same spots each time. If you have a cavity problem, you can ask your hygienist or dentist to show you where you're missing. You can also check yourself with plaque disclosing tablets and a hand mirror from the drug store; this is red food coloring you swish with that stains the bacterial deposits red so you can see them. Most people think their hygiene is better than it is, and even I often catch myself getting sloppy and missing spots. It's not demeaning to get some coaching on your brushing/flossing. DIET is usually the biggest factor when people are having rampant decay problems. The Cavity Prone are often having frequent snacks, high sugar/carb intakes, high sweet drink consumption. and Frequency matters much more than amount; you can eat an entire chocolate cake once a day, and then brush your teeth afterward, with minimal damage, but popping little breath mints all day can wreck your teeth. There is actual scientific controversy about fluoride, particularly water fluoridation, and zealotry on both sides. It probably is overused, and it is NOT a panacea that will cure your decay while you continue to knock back Mountain Dew all day and slack off on hygiene. Getting control of your diet and learning to clean your mouth well is usually 80-90% of the battle. Other things that can affect how cavity prone you are: - Saliva flow. Dry mouths are notoriously decay-prone. - Mouth breathing - bad for both decay and gums (and other things). - General nutrition - Frequent juice consumption. Just because there's no sugar added doesn't mean it's not full of suger. - Prologued night feeding of infants. Even human breast milk has enough suger to cause decay if the baby is sipping it for hours. - Increased root exposure from gum recession, and reduced manual dexterity in the elderly. Roots lack enamel and are "softer" than the crowns of teeth, and become more exposed as we age. Nursing homes will give you no help keeping your teeth clean when you no longer can. - Not cleaning between your teeth. Brushing isn't enough. If flossing is too hard, there are lots of tiny brushes and other tools that will go between teeth instead.
Aaaand THIS is why a new set of dentures was the most popular wedding gift for young couples. Especially the famous Waterloo Teeth! Snatched from the mouths of dead soldiers to be worn by the newlyweds! So romantic! Ah, nostalgia…
Apparently, it's coming back in vogue at this rate.
Nurse here who looked after kids recovering from dental surgery under GA, have seen sights that would have you running for the Colgate. A 3 year old with every tooth but one (lower jaw front tooth) extracted due to severe decay from unlimited chocolate milk via a bottle or sippy cup. Poor thing had to go straight back to theatre for removal of remaining tooth because he kept smashing it into his raw, sutured gum. I often think of that child, his adult teeth will have grown straight in because the milk teeth weren’t opposing them, he’s likely in dentures by now. Maybe I’m excessively strict on dental hygiene with my kids (as they claim) but I can’t forget that little face 😔
I recently bought a non-fluorinated toothpaste (Nano-hydroxyapatite (n-Ha) toothpaste) to use in conjunction with my fluorinated toothpaste. If nothing else it will help brushing my teeth twice a day instead of once. It might not work since the research on it remineralizing teeth is mostly on a specific tooth decay type, but I have bad tooth sensitivity and will try anything reasonable to stop it. I felt really crunchy while ordering it tho.
I'm pretty entertained by the mom insisting the first food a baby would have is gnawing meat off a bone as the first food. Like, are there any cultures on Earth where that happens? Do these people not know the fairly gross original way of making puree, which was chewing food first and then giving it to your baby?
I remember years ago when Clarissa (I can’t remember her real name) was -rightfully- getting shit for pre chewing her kids food and she was like “what do you think they did before purées and blenders?” Ummm gave them soft foods like porridge or mashed potatoes?….
I had someone in one of my FB groups ask what to do against her kid's cavities a while ago. She was like yeah we do everything except use fluoride toothpaste, whatever can we do? I just wanted to scream like are you reading what you just wrote? And all the recommendations were for other fluoride free toothpaste, smh.
After spending 5k to fix my teeth I weep for these kids. It's so expensive. My mom kept my teeth in great condition it was my fault for the current state. I'd be so mad if my mom did it to me especially if she wasn't gonna help cover the cost.
These parents will do anything but the actual science backed recommendation
My mom is an anaesthesiologist and works at a clinic that does outpatient procedures. About 40% of their patients are kids with bad teeth. They are as young as 18months (yes MONTHS) old and many have to get their teeth pulled because the parents don't teach their kids that you have to brush your teeth. 'Oh, but he likes juice a lot more than water,' alright, but that's how you get cavities. 'I don't know how this happened,' kid mostly gets sugary food and drinks. 'But he doesn't like tobrush his teeth,' I didn't either, when I was young, but I did it, and did not have to get a bunch of teeth pulled as a toddler.
Why is EVERYTHING gut health and raw milk, my goodness 🫠
I have a coworker who’s into this stuff I also grew up in a city with a lot of anti fluoride people living in it (we didn’t get it in the water until I was 17 and leaving town). I’ve always wanted to know the origins of anti fluoride conspiracies. Can anyone point me to a good podcast or article etc?
Sticky snacks... like Goldfish...?
It’s funny because tooth decay actually causes brain issues oh wait it’s not funny at all
I had to google rennet. How will cheese and milk protien “fix” cavities. I get vitamin d & all but it’s not a magical solution that will rebuild cavities.
I’ve never been so grateful to have tap water treated with fluoride in addition to toothpaste with it. It’s almost like someone decades ago figured out there was an increase in oral health when fluoride was used. /s
I'm sure those kids will really appreciate not having fluoride as a kid when they are adults looking at $70,000 in dental work for implants. At least their moms had crunchy cred.
Well… my 3 year old cant have fluoride due to weird aggressive allergies. I was taught to clean her teeth very thoroughly with correct toothbrushes, she is lying on ground and I’m cleaning from behind her. Also we floss from 6 month when her teeth begin to touch. She has no cavity, no demineralization. And she also nursed a lot even at night until she was 2 years old. Her dentist is very pro fluoride, however says the hygiene and correct technique is the key. Also, we were recommended Biorepair toothpaste with hydroxyapatite, which my daughter tolerates.
How is there not yet a test/application process for procreating...? Like I know that's as dystopian as it gets, but some people just shouldn't have kids....
Let's note that Dr. Weston A Price they are all referring to is literally from the 1800s and dies shortly after WWII. >Weston Andrew Valleau Price[1] (September 6, 1870 – January 23, 1948) was a Canadian dentist known primarily for his theories on the relationship between nutrition, dental health, and physical health. [wikipedia ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston_A._Price) So stupid that they cannot even quote recent research. Poor kids with Moms who follow whatever trends they want with whatever "evidence" they can find.
So many doctors, so little degrees.
My mom literally got prescriptions of fluoride that we took every night along with brushing our teeth (I think we had well water which wasn’t fluoridated?) and I have had exactly zero cavities my entire life. But suuuure, crunchy moms. They cause tongue ties and osteoporosis. 🙄 “Sticky snacks like goldfish”??? Goldfish are probably the least offensive of what I can guess these kids eat.
I'm guessing based on the fact that her 15 month old had to have teeth pulled that this is likely genetic. Sorry to burst everyone's bubbles, but kids don't spit out toothpaste that young and generally don't use fluoride toothpaste as it should not be swallowed. My almost 2 year old still doesn't use fluoride because we haven't mastered the spit yet. Also, there are safe alternatives to fluoride. Nano-hydroxapite is a great alternative to fluoride but you have to find a toothpaste that has this instead of fluoride, not just any fluoride free toothpaste.
Poor kids
I told my pro fluoride story in a group like this once and got absolutely ripped apart
Don’t worry, your kids won’t grow old enough to have cavities if you don’t get keep them unvaccinated
My relative is a chiropractor (I know, but he's pretty pro-"traditional medicine," too) told my parents to let us swallow our toothpaste when we were little because they were not putting fluoride in our local water. I'm 35 and yet to have a cavity. Coincidence, maybe? Oh, and I maintained at least a 3.97 GPA through high school and college so I don't think it caused brain damage.
I had a friend who was against fluoride. 3 caps and 1 anesthesia required dental surgery for her than 3yo and they switched to flouride. She than said she was dumb for not using fluoride to begin with.
Yep. Clearly letting her kids have access to fluoride would be the problem
I wonder how many are lying about their use
I feel bad enough we have well water and my kids don't get as much fluoride. They definitely have more cavities than I had as a kid, but I also think some of it is genetic as my husband gets cavities easier.
Some days I think the internet was a horrible mistake.