{"id":42269,"date":"2025-05-14T03:26:50","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T08:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=42269"},"modified":"2025-05-14T03:30:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T08:30:19","slug":"fda-moves-to-take-prescription-fluoride-drops-and-tablets-for-kids-off-the-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=42269","title":{"rendered":"FDA moves to take prescription fluoride drops and tablets for kids off the market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced it will begin the process of pulling prescription fluoride drops and tablets <\/strong>for children off the market. The supplements are usually given to kids at high risk for cavities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal government and some state legislatures are increasingly drawing attention to what they claim are the risks associated with fluoride, a mineral that\u2019s been used for decades in community water systems, toothpastes and mouth rinses to prevent tooth decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dentists fiercely contest the notion that the harms of fluoride outweigh the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only side effect that we know of from using fluoride is dental fluorosis,\u201d a cosmetic issue that leads to white or, in extreme cases, brown marks on teeth, said Margherita Fontana, professor and chair of the department of cariology, restorative sciences and endodontics at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said in a news release<\/a> that he’s instructing the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research \u201cto evaluate the evidence regarding the risks of systemic fluoride exposure from FDA-regulated pediatric ingestible fluoride prescription drug products to better inform parents and the medical community on this emerging area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The news release suggested that ingested fluoride can alter a child\u2019s gut microbiome and cause weight gain, thyroid disorders and \u201cpossibly decreased IQ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best way to prevent cavities in children is by avoiding excessive sugar intake and good dental hygiene,\u201d Makary said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts agree that the U.S. diet has far too much sugar, which is linked to chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose are the same diets that will completely destroy our teeth. But the reason our teeth have been able to succeed in this modern diet is because of the fluoride products that we have,\u201d Fontana said. \u201cIf we start removing them, we\u2019re going to be where our grandparents or great-grandparents were, with dentures at young ages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FDA said the evaluation should be completed by Oct. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new action goes after tablets and drops that contain fluoride. According to the American Dental Association<\/a>, pediatric dentists can prescribe fluoride supplements to kids living in areas with low fluoride levels in drinking water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Meg Lochary, a pediatric dentist in Union County, North Carolina, said she\u2019s been prescribing more of the drops and tablets since county commissioners voted to stop adding fluoride<\/a> to its water supply last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is really going to hamper our goal of providing kids with fluoride,\u201d Lochary said. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous, and it takes away the choice of parents to allow their children to have better dental health. It doesn\u2019t make scientific sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnlike toothpaste with fluoride or fluoride rinses, these products are swallowed and ingested by infants and toddlers,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The press release included links to several studies to back up its assertions about fluoride. None looked at the effects of fluoride tablets or drops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reviewed 49 studies<\/a> of water fluoridation: 42 in animals, 4 in humans and 3 in the lab. It concluded that, in humans, extremely high levels could possibly be harmful to the microbiome, while low levels of fluoride \u2014 less than 2 milligrams per liter \u2014 had no negative effect. Optimal water fluoridation in the U.S. is 0.7 mg\/L.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another concluded that research on fluoride\u2019s possible effect on the microbiome\u2002<\/a>is \u201cstill in its early days, and studies investigating the impact of fluoride on the human microbiome have only begun to appear in the literature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A third review of research<\/a>, published this year in JAMA Pediatrics, found a link between higher fluoride exposure and lower children\u2019s IQ scores. But the studies included in the analysis were based in countries with much higher fluoride levels than the U.S. A majority of the studies were also deemed to be of poor quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The body of evidence linking fluoride to issues related to the microbiome or brain is \u201cvery, very poor,\u201d Fontana said. \u201cRigorous studies on this don\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously referred to fluoride as \u201cindustrial waste\u201d on the social media platform X<\/a> and said on\u2002MSNBC<\/a> that the faster the mineral goes away, the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnding the use of ingestible fluoride is long overdue,\u201d Kennedy said in Tuesday\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utah and Florida recently banned the addition of fluoride to public water systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced it will begin the process of pulling prescription fluoride drops and tablets for children off the market. The supplements are usually given to kids at high risk for cavities. The federal government and some state legislatures are increasingly drawing attention to what they claim are the risks associated with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":42270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5784],"tags":[33271,3043,33272,33270,33273],"class_list":["post-42269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-childrens-prescription","tag-fda","tag-fluoride-drops","tag-removed-from-shelves","tag-tablets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42271,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42269\/revisions\/42271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}