When Utah lawmakers took away the ability of communities to fluoridate their drinking water this year, they legalized an alternative: to let Utah pharmacists sell fluoride supplements without a prescription.
Now the federal Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to ban those supplements for children — because, according to an FDA news release from May, those products could alter the beneficial microorganisms in the human gut.
However, Dr. James Bekker, a pediatric dentist from Utah, argues that the FDA’s current conclusions are based on faulty studies. What’s more, appropriate doses of ingestible fluoride are not just safe, but can provide kids with benefits they wouldn’t get through topical fluoride alone.
Bekker is a Utah delegate to the American Dental Association and an associate dean of the University of Utah School of Dentistry’s Professional, Community and Strategic Relations. Because of those credentials, the FDA invited him to share his insights at a July 23 public meeting on the topic.
And Bekker is urging Utahns who care about having access to ingestible fluoride supplements for children to share their comments with the FDA before the meeting. They can do so before midnight Wednesday.
“The FDA looks at the number of people that respond, and that shows, in essence, public interest in a certain topic,” Bekker said. “We’ve asked everybody to respond to this opportunity so that the FDA understands that this is something that is of public interest.”
Having already lost the option for fluoridated water, Utah’s kids would be left with no alternatives if ingestible fluoride supplements were banned, Bekker said.
Besides taking the choice out of the hands of Utah parents, Bekker said such a ban would likely lead to other consequences: More cavities, higher overall healthcare costs and more children receiving oral care under general anesthetic in a hospital setting.
Though his position with the U. and his delegacy with the American Dental Association are what Bekker thinks led to the FDA’s invitation to testify, he emphasized that his experience as a pediatric dentist informs his viewpoint.
“I have been practicing for years, taking care of children,” he said. “Especially in Utah, where we have some areas that have [had] fluoride in the water, some areas that didn’t have fluoride in the water, I have seen the value of supplements for many, many years. And so I know firsthand that this is a choice that is important.”
When young children’s teeth are still forming, Bekker said having trace amounts of fluoride in their system makes the enamel harder and “less susceptible to decay.”
“Your teeth come in stronger,” he said. “It’s a completely separate mechanism than the toothpaste or the mouthwash. … The actual enamel of your tooth is stronger.”
If drinking water is fluoridated, he said, those benefits flow to kids in underserved populations who don’t have access to supplements. Banning the supplements would take the choice from everyone.
He said he plans to show the FDA facts that show the importance of supplements, and he will encourage the administration to let people make their own choice.