United States: US health regulators launched a move on Tuesday to do away with ingestible fluoride supplements sometimes dispensed to strengthen children’s teeth, the latest development on a new front in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s battle against a mainstay of dental care.
FDA Targets Fluoride Supplements
The FDA said that it will carry out a scientific review of the children’s products by late October with the intention of taking them off the market.
A formal withdrawal of the medical products follows a long rule-making process that can last several years, US News reported.
Rather, the FDA is set to ask the manufacturers to voluntarily recall their products, according to an administration official.
Fluoride tablets and lozenges are sometimes prescribed to children and teens at high risk of having tooth decay or cavities due to low fluoride levels in the local drinking water. Companies also market drops for babies.
Health Risks Cited by Federal Officials
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said that the products carry risk when they are ingested because they can inhibit beneficial gut bacteria essential to digestion, immunity, and other important bodily processes.
U.S. health officials are announcing an effort to phase out ingestible fluoride supplements used to strengthen children’s teeth, citing possible health risks. https://t.co/F1cxp8QwvY
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He also evoked reports indicating the potential associations between excess fluoride consumption and other issues such as reduced IQ.
Earlier reviews from experts in public health and dental practitioners have found no severe health implications relating to the products.
States Shift Away from Water Fluoridation
Now that state and local governments are removing fluoride from their water, there is an expectation that more people are going to need supplemental fluoride, US News reported.
They recently made fluoride supplements without a prescription available in Utah, the first US state to ban fluoride from the drinking water.
Fluoride makes teeth stronger and cavity-resistant because it replaces minerals lost in the process of ordinary wear, the CDC reported.
In 1962, the agency came up with the guideline on how much should be added to water.
Kennedy, who is a former environmental lawyer, has called fluoride a “dangerous neurotoxin” tied to a range of health dangers.
A month ago, he announced a task force to observe how fluoride is used, but at the same time, he declared that he would direct the CDC to stop endorsing it for inclusion in the tap water.