🦷 What do the Boston Red Sox and a pork chop have to do with fluoride?
How 38 cavity-free years, a pork chop, and the Red Sox curse taught me to appreciate fluoride.
For 38 straight years, I was throwing a dental perfect game. No cavities. No Novocain. No fillings, crowns, or grimace-inducing drills. My dentist once said, “You have the enamel of a Viking warrior, but with better flossing habits.”
Then came the 2004 ALCS — the American League Championship Series, where the winner goes to the World Series.
My Yankees led the hated Boston Red Sox 3 games to 0, and I decided to celebrate prematurely. I cooked a pork chop.
Boston came back and won four straight and broke the Curse of the Bambino, a legendary 86-year championship drought dating back to the 1919 sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees. It was the most soul-crushing comeback in postseason history.
And just as they completed the comeback in Game 7 wrecking my Yankee karma, I bit into pork chop — and hit a bone.
Tooth shattered. My perfect record? Gone. Just like the Yankees' pitching.
💧 But Why Did I Last 38 Years Without a Cavity?
Simple: fluoride in my water.
Since 1945, public health officials have added low levels of fluoride to drinking water to reduce cavities — a practice endorsed by every major medical organization. In 2015, the U.S. Public Health Service recommended an optimal fluoride level of 0.7 parts per million (ppm) — enough to protect teeth, but well below any level considered harmful (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015).
🧠 Why This Matters
The 2015 Cochrane Review is considered the most rigorous analysis of fluoride research. These reviews are conducted by independent, non-partisan experts using strict inclusion criteria, and they found that children living in fluoridated areas had 35% fewer baby teeth with cavities and 26% fewer affected permanent teeth (Iheozor-Ejiofor et al., Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2015). It’s basically the medical equivalent of a Mariano Rivera save — reliable, evidence-based, and peer-reviewed.
🦷 The Case for Fluoride: What the Science Says
🏙 Community-wide success: The first city to fluoridate water — Grand Rapids, Michigan — saw cavity rates in children drop by 60% over 15 years (Dean et al., Public Health Reports, 1950). That study launched a nationwide movement and is still cited today as one of the greatest public health success stories.
👨🦳 Adults benefit too: A large U.S. study published in 2020 analyzed caries rates in over 16,000 adults and found significantly fewer cavities among those living in fluoridated areas (Slade et al., J Dent Res, 2020).
💰 Massive cost savings: According to an economic analysis by Griffin et al. (2001), every $1 spent on community fluoridation saves $32–38 in dental treatment costs (J Public Health Dent, 2001). A more recent 2016 analysis by the California Department of Public Health echoed these results, reporting returns of $26 per $1 invested in underserved communities.
🏆 CDC recognition: Water fluoridation is listed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century (CDC, 1999).
❓ But What About the Safety Concerns?
Let’s break it down:
🚫 Cancer Risk?
The National Research Council’s 2006 review — one of the most thorough ever done — concluded there is no credible evidence linking fluoridated water (≤0.7 ppm) to cancer, including bone cancer (NRC, 2006). The American Cancer Society and WHO agree.
🧠 IQ and Neurodevelopment?
Some recent studies — like Green et al. (2019) and Till et al. (2020) — sparked headlines when they suggested that high fluoride exposure during pregnancy may be associated with lower IQ in children. But these studies have limitations:
The effects were seen only in boys, not girls, and the IQ differences were modest (~4 points).
The exposure levels were often higher than U.S. tap water standards.
Experts have raised concerns about study design, confounding factors, and reproducibility (Sutton et al., Environment International, 2020).
A 2023 review of the National Toxicology Program draft monograph even led to substantial revisions after peer criticism, reflecting the uncertainty in the evidence base.
🦴 Skeletal Fluorosis?
This rare condition only occurs at fluoride levels above 4.0 ppm, which is over five times the recommended level in U.S. water (WHO, 2022). It’s found primarily in regions with naturally high fluoride in groundwater — not communities with adjusted municipal water.
🚱 And When Fluoride Is Removed?
Things tend to go badly. For teeth, anyway.
In Juneau, Alaska, fluoride was removed from the city’s water in 2007. A later study found that low-income children had significantly higher rates of dental decay within just a few years (Meyer et al., BMC Oral Health, 2018).
It’s like taking your ace pitcher out in the 7th inning and replacing him with a guy from accounting — and expecting a win.
👨👩👧 What Parents Can Do
💧 Check your water report to see if your town fluoridates.
🪥 Use fluoridated toothpaste for your kids (pea-sized amount, age 2+).
🩺 Ask your pediatrician or dentist about fluoride varnish or supplements if your water doesn’t contain it.
🍖 And maybe go easy on the pork chops during playoff baseball. Especially if your team is up 3–0.
References
Dean HT et al. (1950). Public Health Reports, 65(43), 1403–08.
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. (2015). PHR, 130(4), 318–31.
Iheozor-Ejiofor Z et al. (2015). Cochrane Database Syst Rev, Issue 6:CD010856.
Griffin SO et al. (2001). J Public Health Dent, 61(2):78–86.
CDC. (1999). MMWR, 48(12):241–43.
Slade GD et al. (2020). J Dent Res, 99(4):381–88.
NRC. (2006). Fluoride in Drinking Water: Scientific Review.
Green R et al. (2019). JAMA Pediatr, 173(10):940–48.
Till C et al. (2020). Environ Int, 134:105315.
Sutton M et al. (2020). Environ Int, 145:105974.
WHO. (2022). Fluorides and Oral Health.
Meyer J et al. (2018). BMC Oral Health, 18:215.