SAID, EVERYONE IS OKAY. AND OF COURSE THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF HEALTH RIGHT NOW. AND A NEW STUDY FINDS THAT DRINKING WATER WITH FLUORIDE AS A CHILD DID NOT IMPACT A PERSON’S IQ OR COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE LATER IN LIFE. THE STUDY WAS THE FIRST TO ACTUALLY MEASURE COMMUNITY WATER FLUORIDE EXPOSURE DURING CHILDHOOD HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THEN ITS POTENTIAL IMPACT ON COGNITION UP TO AGE 80. SO OBVIOUSLY, IT COVERS MANY YEARS, AND THE FINDINGS CONTRADICT CLAIMS FROM THE HEALTH SECRETARY, RFK JR, WHO ONCE DESCRIBED FLUORIDE AS AND I’M QUOTING HERE, INDUSTRIAL WASTE. SO AS YOU CAN SEE RIGHT NOW HERE TO TALK ABOUT IT. DOCTOR TODD GREAT TO SEE YOU DOCTOR. HAPPY TUESDAY FROM SOUTH SHORE HEALTH NUMBER ONE. LET’S START WITH FLUORIDE. IT’S A IT’S A HOTLY DEBATED TOPIC RIGHT. THAT’S RIGHT. THAT’S FAIR TO SAY. RIGHT. FLORIDA AND UTAH HAVE ALREADY BANNED IT IN DRINKING WATER. MANY MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITIES ACTUALLY DO USE IT. SO SO START US OFF. REMIND US EXACTLY WHAT IS FLUORIDE. FLUORIDE IS A MINERAL THAT’S FOUND IN DIFFERENT FOODS WATER, SOIL. AND WHAT IT DOES IS IT PROTECTS OUR TEETH. IT PROTECTS THE ENAMEL, IT PREVENTS CAVITIES, IT PREVENTS TEETH, TOOTH DECAY. SO THAT’S IT’S BEEN IN OUR WATER SINCE THE 1940S. SO SO WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS? RIGHT. SO THE BENEFITS AGAIN IS ORAL HEALTH RIGHT? IN COUNTRIES THAT HAVE ELIMINATED FLUORIDE, LIKE FOR INSTANCE IN CALGARY, CANADA, THEY 20 YEARS AFTER THEY ELIMINATE IT, THEY HAD TO PUT IT BACK BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF CAVITIES, YOU KNOW, INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. AND WHAT ARE THE RISKS? THE RISKS ARE WHAT’S CALLED DENTAL FLUOROSIS. THAT’S A FANCY TERM. IT MEANS KIND OF STAINING BROWN STAINING OF THE TEETH OR PITTING. AND THAT’S MORE OF A CONCERN IN THE VERY YOUNG BABIES. YOU KNOW, WHEN WHEN TEETH ARE FORMING. AND THAT’S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THE RECOMMENDATIONS IS THAT PARENTS BRUSH THE KIDS TEETH WITH VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF TOOTHPASTE THAT CONTAINS FLUORIDE FROM 0 TO 3, AND THEN ONLY USING A PEA SIZED AMOUNT UP TO SIX. WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT FLUORIDE. IF THERE’S NOT AN ABUNDANCE OF FLUORIDE IN WATER. I’M GLAD YOU ASKED THAT. IN THE US THE LIMIT IS 0.7MG/L. WHAT IS THAT? IT’S A TINY AMOUNT. IF YOU TAKE AN OLYMPIC SIZE SWIMMING POOL, THAT IS 2.5 MILLION LITERS OF WATER, THAT’S PUTTING SEVEN DROPS OF FLUORIDE IN MINUSCULE. SO FLUORIDE AND IQ HAVE BEEN HAVE BEEN LOOKED AT BEFORE. AND DOCTORS DO SAY THAT THE RESEARCH WHICH FOUND LOWERED IQS INCLUDED PARTICIPANTS THAT WERE EXPOSED TO MASSIVE DOSES OF FLUORIDE. SO WHAT EXACTLY WHAT EXACTLY IS A MASSIVE DOSE OF FLUORIDE? LISTEN, THESE WERE SMALL STUDIES FOUND IN COUNTRIES THAT HAD IN CERTAIN PARTS, YOU KNOW, GREATER AMOUNTS THAN THAT 0.7MG/L. IT WAS TYPICALLY MORE THAN TWICE UP TO OFTEN MORE THAN TEN TIMES THAT AMOUNT. THAT’S IN THE UNITED STATES. SO IT’S NOT REALLY RELEVANT TO THE US. LET’S LET’S TALK ABOUT THE STUDY BECAUSE THE STUDY ITSELF, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE AGE GROUPING. THE STUDY ITSELF IS BEING CALLED THE FIRST OF ITS KIND TO LOOK AT LONG TERM EFFECTS OF FLUORIDE. SO HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO SINCE WE’VE GOTTEN THESE RESULTS ALREADY, SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT LONG TERM STUDIES? OF COURSE WE CAN. WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT THIS STUDY IS THEY LOOKED AT OVER 10,000 PEOPLE THAT WERE BASICALLY HAD GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL IN 1957. SO THEY WERE BORN IN 1940, AND THEY FOLLOWED THEM FOR ABOUT 80 YEARS. RIGHT. AND WHAT THEY SHOWED IS THEY DID AN IQ TEST AT AGE 16, AND THEN THEY DID COGNITIVE TESTS AT IN IN THEIR 50S, 60S, 70S, AND 80S. AND THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE IN THE PEOPLE THAT WERE IN COMMUNITIES IN WISCONSIN WHERE THE WATER WAS FLUORIDATED FROM THE PEOPLE THAT WERE IN THE STUDY, WHERE THEY WERE IN COMMUNITIES WHERE THE WATER WAS NO DIFFERENCE. INTERESTING AT ANY AGE. WELL, GREAT CONVERSATION, LET’S PUT IT THIS WAY. I’M HAPPY THAT, YOU KNOW, MY KIDS HAVE, YOU KNOW, WE’VE RAISED THEM IN COMMUNITIES THAT