December 29, 2014

False information on fluoridation dominates the Internet


Community water fluoridation on the Internet and social media.
QUESTION: how accurate is information on the Internet regarding community water fluoridation?

METHODS: website traffic was evaluated. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube activity was categorized as "pro" or "con" regarding community water fluoridation.

 RESULTS: website traffic to the "con" sites was found to exceed "pro" sites by 5 to 60 fold. Searching "fluoride" and "fluoridation" on Facebook resulted in 88% to 100% "con" groups and pages; on Twitter and YouTube the result was 64% "con" tweets and 99% "con" videos. "Cancer, " "useless, " and "poisonous" were the three major arguments used against community water fluoridation.

CONCLUSIONS: false anti-fluoridation information significantly dominates the Internet and social media.

J Mass Dent Soc. 2014;63(2):32-6