Original Lu Anchun essay Lu Anchun 2023-09-16 00:08 Published in Guangdong.
Recently, there has been a little wave in the domestic science popularization circle. Yu Xiangdong ("Bangbang Doctor"), a well-known medical science author and senior doctor, posted an article "Believe It or Not Note 19: Fluoride Toothpaste", the article said that he used Yunnan Baiyao toothpaste, not because he believed in its so-called hemostatic effect, but just because it was convenient to buy it, so he bought it casually. "I didn't think about it for any reason, it was just convenience, I bought one when I saw one in the supermarket. It's just toothpaste, what brand makes a difference?How much of a difference?Therefore, understanding the evidence of toothpaste, and based on my own values and temperament, choosing Yunnan Baiyao or Heimei and Zhonghua are all in line with evidence. Dr. Yu also pointed out that the general population does not need to use fluoride toothpaste, saying, "Only people of age and disease who are at high risk of tooth decay need to use fluoride toothpaste, and indiscriminate use of it will bring additional risks, such as fluorosis." Dr. Yu was a scholar in Huanggang, Hubei Province during his middle school years, and graduated from Shanghai First Medical University in his early years. I've been reading his *** articles for the past few years. There is no doubt that among the domestic medical science popularization authors, he belongs to the outstanding. I've been emphasizing the idea that the quickest way for ordinary people to acquire knowledge is to trust people who have been tested over the years and are more reliable. Dr. Yu is one of those people in my eyes. His articles are rarely error-prone, and they are more reliable than most medical science writers in China. I don't have a lot of time, so I can't spend the energy to identify all the knowledge. So many times, I directly adopt Dr. Yu's point of view. The problem of fluoride toothpaste is no exception. I didn't buy fluoride toothpaste before. I've read some articles before, saying that there is no substantial difference between a toothpaste of a few dozen yuan and ordinary toothpaste, so I never buy expensive toothpaste. If nothing happens, the idea that "most people don't need to use fluoride toothpaste" will gradually take root in my heart. Unexpectedly, Dr. Yu's article caused a lot of controversy. The top science writers in the Chinese world also commented on Dr. Heyu's view, saying that Dr. Yu's view that ordinary people do not need to use fluoride toothpaste is completely wrong. "The CDC team recommends that everyone drink water with an ideal fluoride concentration and brush their teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste. "The World Health Organization, the World Dental Federation both recommend that everyone use fluoride toothpaste. Yunnan Baiyao toothpaste does not contain fluoride, which is harmful. The use of fluoride toothpaste leads to fluorosis by very young children”
This matter has no effect on me, Dr. Yu is my trust, and the famous science writer is also my trust, the difference is that the science writer is in the first place. So I naturally rejected Dr. Yu's point of view and adopted the view of a popular science writer. The authority of their popular science articles is a level for me. After decades of reading, I have my own simple criteria for distinguishing and making trade-offs. But this incident caused a sensation in the popular science community, and many people waited to see Dr. Yu's jokes. To be honest, I'm curious how things will turn out. Dr. Yu had also been severely criticized by popular science writers on the Palestinian-Israeli issue once, and later reviewed himself. How will he react this time?He deliberately argued his point of view in "Believe It or Not, Note 19", and now he has been pointed out as "completely wrong", which is very humiliating according to the face complex of the Chinese people. Without me spending time searching, someone in the circle of friends soon posted Dr. Yu's apology article (having a group of like-minded friends at least has such a little benefit). As soon as the article got to the point, he said: "I have always been encouraged to change criticism if there is one, but this time I realized my mistake at the first time. It is true that I have not paid attention to dental caries and fluoride supplementation before, and it is against the spirit of evidence to speak in a hurry after simply reading a literature. The author describes the process of re-examining the literature, corrects the previous conclusions, and concludes: "It only took me one day to swim in the ocean of the latest and best evidence in the world's medicine, which broadened my horizons, improved my cognition, and was extremely happy"I have to admit that Dr. Yu's heart is much higher than ordinary people. In the Chinese world, there are only two people in my impression who have been criticized by popular science writers to the point but can still keep an open mind and thank the criticism with a happy heart: one is Xie Yong, a professor at Xiamen University, and the other is Dr. Yu. Professor Xie Yong, who majored in English, was criticized by popular science writers for mistranslation and even completely reversed the main meaning of an article that year, criticizing that humanities professors should also learn English well. Professor Xie did not get angry, but instead included this critical article by the popular science writer into his later published anthology to reflect on himself, and at the same time took the initiative to send the manuscript fee to the popular science writer. This move has been called the most elegant scholar in China by popular science writers. Dr. Yu is also a thunderous presence in the field of Chinese medical science, and after being criticized as "completely wrong", he carefully checked the information and frankly admitted his mistakes, and I think his elegance can also be compared with Professor Xie Yong. In contrast, Rao Yi is the other extreme of the opposite. By the way, among the celebrities who have been criticized by popular science writers without complaining, Xue Yong should also be counted as one. He was also criticized for being very shameless ("Brother, when I was at Yale......But when the popular science writer was attacked in 2011, he publicly supported the popular science writer, leaving the villains who fell into the well far behind. Although he can't do the level of openness and criticism that Professor Xie Yong and Dr. Yu have, after all, he has been mixed up at Yale and is not ambiguous on major issues of right and wrong. Of course, distinguishing between right and wrong and not being confused by personal likes and dislikes is just the basic quality of a person, but many people don't even have this basic literacy, so Xue Yong is somewhat valuable. Humility, bitter medicine, seeking common ground while reserving differences is easier said than done. "Tumoto" is also a celebrity in the popular science industry, but he never seems to accept criticism, and often blocks the other party as soon as he encounters criticism. Even, according to some netizens' feedback, if a big V has criticized "Tumoto", "Tumoto" will block the fans of the big V. So now I basically don't read the articles of "dirt motorcycles". Reading his articles becomes a risky thing to do when someone points out a mistake and still persists because you are unwittingly influenced by those false views, which can last a lifetime. At my own level, it's not enough to distinguish the popular science articles of people like "Tu Moto", so it's safer not to read them. As early as when the first edition of "Gossip of Life" of "Tumoto" first came out, I noticed the difference between "Tumoto" and the popular science writer F. The former is often just a presentation of the results of a certain study or article, and the author often takes them as the final conclusion, and the research or article may not be the mainstream of the scientific communityPopular science writer F is a complete introduction to the mainstream views of the scientific community, and those views can be directly adopted by readers. The path that Dr. Yu accidentally made this mistake is actually similar to that of "Tumoto". As for Rao Yi, he is the best who pretends to be deaf and dumb, no matter how others argue his mistakes, he repeats his original views over and over again and maintains a condescending, self-admiring and even extremely narcissistic posture from beginning to end. There is a comparison before it hurts, so Dr. Yu's performance in this incident is definitely commendable. After Dr. Yu's apology article came out, I took a special look at the toothpaste brand I had used for more than ten years, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this 140-gram toothpaste, which only costs 5 yuan, actually said "sodium fluoride"!I used to read popular science articles that there is no substantial difference between high-end toothpaste and ordinary toothpaste, so every time I buy toothpaste, I go into the supermarket, go straight to the Crest counter, find the cheapest one, and buy a dozen or twenty ......I didn't expect to buy fluoride toothpaste, which is really lucky. 
Fluoride toothpaste