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Dentist: Five recently conducted studies all show that the proportion of children with decayed, missing, or filled teeth is lower in Europe, where water is not fluoridated, than in the United States, where it is. This is convincing evidence that fluoridation of water does not have a substantial tendency to prevent tooth decay.
Which one of the following, if true, would most strengthen the dentist's argument?
(A) Toothpaste containing fluoride is widely available in both the United States and Europe. (B) Nearly all dentists in the United States use dental treatments involving the application of fluoride directly to tooth surfaces.
(C) Dental hygiene is typically taught in elementary school in both Europe and the United States.
(D) On average, children in Europe receive dental checkups more frequently than children in the United States.
(E) The diets of children in the United States are not generally worse for teeth than those of children in Europe.
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3 comments
I read the stimulus before reading the question, so when I read this I thought: European kids have healthier teeth than American kids but Americans use fluoride which should help; why are Americans doing worse despite fluoride? Must be some American disadvantage, like crappier diet than Europeans' diet. That would reconcile the discrepancy, supporting the role for fluoride. Turns out the question wants the opposite, to discredit fluoride. So the answer will be the opposite of mine: Americans DON'T have a crappier diet. That's (E).
Stimulus is saying that fluoride in water helps teeth and lists Europe vs US as an example. We want to look for an answer that strengthens this claim
A: Either weakens or doesn't impact the argument. Just because fluoride is present in toothpaste doesn't mean people buy that toothpaste. Alternatively, it shows that fluoride may be easily accessible/used, thus weakening the argument that fluoride helps teeth
B: Weakens. US uses fluoride yet their teeth are worse. Implies that fluoride is not the reason for this phenomenon
C: No impact. Issue is about fluoride and teeth
D: Weakens. It provides an alternative explanation for why European teeth are better
E: Strengthens. Diets of US is NOT worse than Europe. So, the diets must be similar or the US is better than Europe. This rules out an alternative explanation for the phenomenon.