I just want to know the data. If we have the data, let’s share it.

You can say “we believe fluoridation of water is the single greatest measure that can be undertaken by government to improve dental outcomes” and that can be absolutely true.

But what is the magnitude of that impact? What are we really talking? We should always start there.

I always tried to do that when o was teaching young doctors. I would hammer home the NNT stat. It is number needed to treat and it relates to how many people must be treated with a medicine to change one outcome. Too often doctors just prescribe medicine for the problem without thinking of the magnitude of the medication effect.

Statins, as an example, are some of the best medicines out there in terms of NNT. You might see a number as low as 10 people treated to prevent one heart attack or stroke based on some calculators. But in cases where the person doesn’t have high risk, that number goes way down. And for most medicines, the number is much lower.

We should arm people with the best data to make the best decisions.