Table 5. Fluoride Information From Multiple Sources.

Social relationships	Quote
Supporting fluoride use for children
Pediatrician	“Yeah. Well, the pediatrician had said not to use fluoride toothpaste until they turned three. And with my daughter, I started a lot earlier because I didn’t want a bad outcome again. So, I talked with their regular dentist and they told me about a certain child toothpaste—I had it ordered online. It just has extra fluoride or something in it.”
Friend	“We have this water filter, and our friend had it first, and they recommended it to us, and I didn’t buy the fluoride filters for it, then he really felt that I didn’t—that’s because fluoride is so bad for you, it can put holes in your brain, blah, blah, blah. But I like to give my kids fluoride water because well, that’s what they depend on until they’re going to the dentist and using fluoride toothpaste. So, my kids always had it…It’s not somebody I talk to all the time. And I was sitting there, and then I was kind of like, ‘I’m done with this.’”
Dental hygienist	“I know [a fluoride rinse] is good for them to use. My one girlfriend is a hygienist, and she told me that she uses it for [her children]…We both want to take care of our kids’ teeth. In fact, she is a hygienist, and she had the same exact issue with her daughter, and she’s had the same dental surgery done.”
Dentist and pediatrician	“[The dentist] did tell us to buy bottled water that has some fluoride in it because there’s no fluoride in our water. The pediatrician...probably told me that and I ignored it. And then I ignored it again.”
Sister and mother	“I’m sure my sister and my mom would recommend fluoride.”
Friend	“Well, if [my friend] was like, ‘Yeah, they should have fluoride, they should give them a lot of water.’ I mean, I don’t think that we ever have actually had this conversation. But I think that this is how it would go. She would say, ‘Yes. Give them the water with fluoride in it.’ And I would still choose to ignore her and not do it for all the reasons that we just talked about.”
Neighbor (nurse practitioner), pediatrician, and dentist	“I have asked the one neighbor about fluoride because we were trying to figure out if our water was fluoridated and it’s not, it turns out. And she is a nurse practitioner at [a university]. And she was saying that she gives her kids a fluoride supplement, which I had never heard of that. I mean, I never knew of that even when I was little. You just got the fluoride treatment at the dentist. So, I have that, actually, on my list to ask when we go to the pediatrician. I want to see if he thinks we should be on a fluoride supplement or whatever because I think she said they take it every day. But I had never heard of that because I’m like, ‘Well, don’t they just do the fluoride at the doctor now or at the dentist?’ And she said, ‘Well, they do have that. But we also give them a fluoride supplement.’”
Not supporting fluoride use for children
Dentist	The mother asked dentists twice if they advise adding fluoride to her children’s routine, and the dentists did not provide profluoride information with the mother reporting that dentists “never said anything.”
Friend	Friend gifted the mother nonfluoridated toothpaste: “One of our friends bought us this [charcoal] toothpaste because it was black. So, she bought him that. It’s fluoride-free. We didn’t know [that] until after I had to go rebuy because it says fluoride-free [on the box].”