To add fluoride to water, toothpaste, or other substances to help prevent tooth decay.
From fluoride + -ize (to treat or process with). Fluoride itself comes from fluorite, a mineral whose name comes from Latin 'fluere' meaning 'to flow' because it was used as a flux in metalworking.
When communities first started fluoridizing water in the 1940s, people were skeptical and even suspicious, but the science was so clear that today about 25% of the world's population drinks fluoridated water.
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