Actually, the article says the report says harm happens at 2x the current recommended fluoridation level.

> But the report did find a possible link to cognitive harm at approximately two times the current

Keyword possible.

Also a long history of spurious statistical correlations where you find "possible" links.

e.g. for a while there was a scare for RF from overhead powerlines causing brain cancer.

Turns out, the issue is the statistics used to try and isolate an effect from a general population sample have bias: plug in any effect, and any grouping factor, and you'll probably observe a doubling of the risk.

This effect was the cause of a whole spate of "X may cause cancer" reports in the 2000s.

Tooth decay is caused by acid produced by bacteria.

It's too bad we can't displace the bacteria themselves instead of working downstream from that.

Except that we can! The oral microbiome can be modulated to get exactly what you’re asking: remove pathogens that are good at creating acid and replacing them with ones that are good at remineralizing.

Shameless plug for my company (Bristle Health) that is trying to do exactly that via oral microbiome testing and personalized recommendations and products to improve.

Interesting, can you tell more? I’ve tried oral probiotics without much effect.

Did notice a difference for a couple of days after taking antibiotics for a week for something else, but it quickly subsided (my regular micro biome probably quickly recolonised the mouth).

I searched for the name and found it, seems like they ship you a test kit, then ID the microbes in your mouth and make recommendations based on that.

I noticed L. ruteri in some screenshots which I already know from other probiotic uses.

You guys have anything on the market yet?

Indeed we do! We have an oral microbiome test you can find here: https://www.bristlehealth.com/pages/products

and our first probiotic here: https://www.bristlehealth.com/pages/probiotic

All the species in the probiotic have been clinically studied with evidence that supports improvement in the oral microbiome and reduction of oral disease. Although, for transparency, the mechanism of action of some of the probiotics is still unclear, and we're working on figuring that out to improve oral probiotics and products in the future.

There are oral probiotics available, which aim to do just this. I'm not sure if any clinical trials have investigated their efficacy, however.

Is there a reason we don't just rinse with a base?