So, what was in 'swish' anyway?

Post by **rep** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 7:51 pm

In early elementary school my class was given a small cup of flouride 'swish' to rinse our mouths out with every morning.

The USAF has admitted (In 1997, I believe) to spraying Chicago areas with chemicals through the 1970s that are correlated to causing deformities and cancer.

There's no reason why you should trust the government on anything. I don't know of a single case where a child or teacher brought the so-called swish to a scientist to have it formally investigated. Even then, if it contained some sort of chemical agent, the scientist would either not detect it, or certainly would never be able to publish his finds, if in fact whatever was in it was for nefarious purposes. The government is so tight with it's information, it boggles the mind to fathom how they're keeping tabs on everything so well... Just look at the released UFO documents from the 1940s-1960s on FBI.gov in their freedom of information act section... Someone would show up at the local newspaper saying they saw a flying saucer, and within an hour an X-Files team from the local office would be there giving that person the run down.

By saying anything about UFOs, or the X-Files in this, many would laugh or say my question is discredited because it smells of Internet paranoia, fueled by blogs and the easy accessibility of once sensitive information. I assure you, as long as you don't believe there are 'Raelians' and 'Lizard People', your opinion is quite valid. UFOs are a real phenomenon which remain unexplained. Those who repudiate them are merely helping those who probably want to keep them a secret.

Back to swish.

Why was it only done for a few years? If it was a healthy practice then why isn't it being done today? Why is there virtually no information about it on the Internet?

Post by **werldhed** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:02 pm

My guess would be that most people get enough fluoride from their water, and have no need to take mouthfuls daily.

Post by **tnf** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:04 pm

Never had to swish.

Never heard of schools swishing.

Post by **rep** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:05 pm

I know it was done sometime between 1985 and 1987.

Post by **eepberries** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:07 pm

Rep, they're already onto you now that you've posted about this. You'd better make your way to mexico, quick

Post by **werldhed** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:09 pm

Is "swish" actually a product? Or do you just mean fluoride rinses in general?

Post by **R00k** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:09 pm

eepberries wrote:Rep, they're already onto you now that you've posted about this. You'd better make your way to mexico, quick

Yea, hurry man, for the love. of. god. hurry.

Post by **rep** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:13 pm

werldhed wrote:Is "swish" actually a product? Or do you just mean fluoride rinses in general?

Flavored flouride rinses. They were called, "Swish," in my school. Who knows what was actually in them, though.

Post by **eepberries** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:15 pm

Did you ever see any kids question why they were using this, then suddenly disappear?

Post by **werldhed** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:19 pm

I don't know what would be in those, but fluoride/peroxidase rinses are still used by dentists, as far as I know.
In addition to what I noted about people getting fluoride from water and toothpaste, I'd also guess that having children use fluoride rinses might not be a good idea if they can easily swallow it.

Post by **SplEEb** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:19 pm

the school my kids go to could never afford to do that. The government can't afford it either local or federal. And not everybody is privy to city water with floride and chlorine. My whole area is well water.

Post by **eepberries** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:21 pm

My guess is it was probably some sort of government test if anything. Probably chose a couple schools only.

Post by **werldhed** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:23 pm

SplEEb wrote:the school my kids go to could never afford to do that. The government can't afford it either local or federal. And not everybody is privy to city water with floride and chlorine. My whole area is well water.

Wells typically have good naturally-occurring fluoride levels.

Post by **R00k** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:24 pm

The whole fluoride thing is a little foggy to me in general. I know that swallowing any noticable amount is harmful, but apparently a little is supposed to be good for your teeth, which is why they put trace amounts in the water.

But if ingesting a noticeable amount is bad for you, I can't imagine that it would be good to even swallow trace amounts every day for a lifetime. Can it?

Post by **rep** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:26 pm

There were different flavors every day. Some were really gross. Others were good.

There may have been a bubble gum flavor. I know the pink kind was the best.

Everyone drank a little.

Post by **raw** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:27 pm

'Swish' is the sound of a turd I flushed down the toilet. It was such a big shit, I named it "rep".

Post by **eepberries** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:28 pm

Rep, the best way to find information is probably to look where you used to live instead of trying to find it on a national level. What I mean is that this was most likely a local program, nothing nationwide. The best place to ask around would probably be where you were raised.

Post by **Nightshade** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:30 pm

raw wrote:'Swish' is the sound of a turd I flushed down the toilet. It was such a big shit, I named it "rep".

It's quite clear that what rep was swishing was highly concentrated stupid juice.

Post by **eepberries** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:31 pm

Nightshade wrote:
raw wrote:'Swish' is the sound of a turd I flushed down the toilet. It was such a big shit, I named it "rep".
It's quite clear that what rep was swishing was highly concentrated stupid juice.

More like highly concentrated sperm amirite?

Post by **raw** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:31 pm

No, it was my semen. He was trying to get smart by osmosis.

Post by **werldhed** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:33 pm

R00k wrote:The whole fluoride thing is a little foggy to me in general. I know that swallowing any noticable amount is harmful, but apparently a little is supposed to be good for your teeth, which is why they put trace amounts in the water.

But if ingesting a noticeable amount is bad for you, I can't imagine that it would be good to even swallow trace amounts every day for a lifetime. Can it?

This is just yet another guess, but I'd suppose that the body has a limit for excreting fluoride. So if you are constantly taking in more than whatever that limit is, you're retaining fluoride in the body. Water has a very low concentration of fluoride, and they even recommend having water de-fluorinated if its concentration is too high. Toothpaste and stuff has a much higher concentration, which is why you don't want to eat it.
I have also heard that excessive fluoride is really only a problem for children, but I don't know if that's true.

Post by **Jackal** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:35 pm

rep wrote:
werldhed wrote:Is "swish" actually a product? Or do you just mean fluoride rinses in general?
Flavored flouride rinses. They were called, "Swish," in my school. Who knows what was actually in them, though.

I know exactly what was in them; flouride and water.
For some reason you're really on the idiot ball today rep.

Post by **SplEEb** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:38 pm

werldhed wrote:
SplEEb wrote:the school my kids go to could never afford to do that. The government can't afford it either local or federal. And not everybody is privy to city water with floride and chlorine. My whole area is well water.
Wells typically have good naturally-occurring fluoride levels.

There could be some floride mixed into this brown sediment filled ooze I loosely call water. I wonder if its still there after going thru an iron filter, water softner and finally reverse osmosis. Regardless we buy a floride rinse for the kids.

Post by **[xeno]Julios** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:43 pm

fluoride is an essential mineral that humans cannot produce by themselves.

Somewhere along the evolutionary chain, a mutation broke down the metabolic pathway that would normally produce it (similar to vitamin C, but way more serious, since we absolutely need fluoride to survive).

This is why all children used to die before scientists started introducing it into our water supply and toothpaste.

There are a lot of conspiracy nuts that believe that fluoride is harmful (well DUH anything is harmful in large quantities). These radical anti-fluoride nuts, the sentiments of whom are most wonderfully embodied in a scene from Dr. Strangelove, are a harm to society, and indeed to the human species.

Post by **werldhed** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:44 pm

SplEEb wrote:
werldhed wrote:
SplEEb wrote:the school my kids go to could never afford to do that. The government can't afford it either local or federal. And not everybody is privy to city water with floride and chlorine. My whole area is well water.
Wells typically have good naturally-occurring fluoride levels.
There could be some floride mixed into this brown sediment filled ooze I loosely call water. I wonder if its still there after going thru an iron filter, water softner and finally reverse osmosis. Regardless we buy a floride rinse for the kids.

Ugh. I grew up on unfiltered well water which was superior in quality to even the city water. Yours sounds disgusting. Reverse osmosis will certainly remove the fluoride, so yeah, a fluoride rinse is probably a good idea (although I think a good toothpaste will probably do the job).