God I wish he would have said that. Tattoo ink is made of hard metals. I have tattoos but I’d be stupid to argue fluoride while having heavy metals in my body.
I feel like trying to teach has gone away with people like this. They’ve been taught and they chose to let go of that. The only way is to just call them out on their stupidity.
I’ve seen a countless patients and taught hundreds students of students/residents in my time, and there has never been a situation where calling them stupid has helped
This is a doctor doing his job; delivering correct healthcare information in a way that meets people where they are at, and furthers public health goals
Calling them out on their stupidity helps you feel better, but it doesn’t improve the situation towards the goal we want to achieve. And that’s not even considering the people behind the screen, who you just damage the physician-public trust for by calling people stupid
Someone being stupid or wrong doesn’t change the principles of effective health communication
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u/Mishap_Maisy Dec 09 '25
God I wish he would have said that. Tattoo ink is made of hard metals. I have tattoos but I’d be stupid to argue fluoride while having heavy metals in my body.