And You Thought the Debate Over Fluoridation Was Settled

[question everything]

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

And You Thought the Debate Over Fluoridation Was Settled
By MELINDA BECK
WSJ


As a baby boomer growing up without fluoridation, I had 14 cavities before my 18th birthday, including seven at one particularly mortifying dental visit. A generation later, my teenage daughters, who've grown up in a fluoridated city, have a combined total of none.

I assumed that the debate over fluoridation was long settled -- after all, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls adding minute quantities of fluoride to municipal water supplies one of the 10 most significant public-health advances of the 20th century. But opposition remains fervent in some communities. More than 180 million Americans have access to fluoridated water, which leaves over 100 million who do not. Fluoridation is on the ballot today in 41 such communities in Nebraska, as well as one in New York state, one in Maine and two in Wisconsin -- and the battles echo 60 years of controversy.

"Fluoride is a poison. You can't dump it in the ocean or a landfill, and they want to put it in our water. It's insane," says Marvin "Butch" Hughes of Hastings, Neb. (population 25,000), who heads the local chapter of Nebraskans for Safe Water. "I've had reporters ask me if fluoride can be used to make weapons of mass destruction," sighs Jessica Meeske, a pediatric dentist in Hastings and board member of the Nebraska Dental Association, which supports fluoridation. She treats patients from communities that have fluoride and those that don't: "The kids who don't have more cavities, and the cavities are much deeper. They're in a lot of pain. They aren't able to eat. They don't do well in school. And the decay just escalates. It spreads from tooth to tooth."

Controversy has dogged fluoridation ever since scientists determined in the 1930s that tiny amounts of the naturally occurring mineral added to water can guard against tooth decay. Opponents dubbed it a Communist plot and have claimed over the years that it raises the risk for cancer, Down's syndrome, heart disease, osteoporosis, AIDS, Alzheimer's, lower IQ, thyroid problems and other diseases. In 2006, the National Research Council warned that high levels of fluoride -- roughly four times the amount typically used in water systems -- are associated with severe dental fluorosis, in which teeth become mottled and pitted, and could cause bone fractures. A separate study linked fluoride with a very rare bone cancer in boys.



Bill Bailey, a dental health officer at the CDC, says while a few isolated studies have raised such questions, "there's never been any compelling evidence that fluoridation has any harmful health effects" in over 60 years of research. A long list of medical associations have also endorsed fluoridation, including the American Dental Association, the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization and the past five surgeons general.

(snip)



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122576047888095495.html (subscription)

[TwilightGardener]

1. My teeth are going to shit after five years of non-fluoridated water--I voted for it on Tuesday.

[question everything]

2. And... did the measure pass? (nt)

[Celebration]

4. Can't you add it to your own water?

Or take tablets or get treatments at the dentist?

[trotsky]

3. Hell, there are plenty of DUers who fear it.

I grew up on well water and had my share of cavities. My dentist even gave me "preventive" fillings, protecting my teeth because it was a given I would have gotten even more. My kids, who drink fluoridated tap water, have had zero cavities despite not being the best brushers in the world.

[nyscof]

5. Fluoride and Organized Dentistry: Big Losers this Election Day

Over 1900 Professionals Urge congress to stop water fluoridation citing new scientific evidence showing that consuming fluoride chemicals via the water supply is ineffective at reducing tooth decay and harmful to health. See statement:
http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html



New York – November 12, 2008 -- Fifty-three cities rejected fluoridation in referenda held in four states on November 4, 2008, according to the Fluoride Action Network (FAN).



Lobbied by the Nebraska Dental Association and supported by the American Dental Association (ADA), the Nebraska legislature passed a law in April 2008, over the Governor’s veto, to require all Nebraska cities with populations over 1,000 to add fluoride chemicals into water supplies unless cities opt-out by 2010. Forty-nine Nebraska cities said “no thanks” in referenda on Election Day.



Corning NY residents passed a citizen-initiated referendum to rescind their city council's right to decide the issue for them - effectively halting fluoridation. A pro-fluoridation dentist raised $100,000, mostly from dental organizations, to fund the fluoridation scheme. Corning joins 15 NY State communities that have rejected fluoridation in past years.



Also voting down fluoridation: Prairie du Chien, Wisconisn; Jackman and Moose River, Maine.



“Once again we have seen confirmed - from Maine to Nebraska - that informed citizens, when given a choice, will reject fluoridation," says FAN Executive Director, Paul Connett, PhD. “This is not surprising considering twenty-three studies now link fluoride exposure to lowered IQ.”

According to Connett, these rejections bode well for a citizen fight back in Louisiana. After years of trying, the ADA and the Louisiana Dental Association expended much money and lobbying efforts to finally convince a novice group of Louisiana State Legislators to pass a fluoridation mandate law this year. However, cities can still opt out after petitioning 15 percent of registered voters for a referendum which must then pass by a majority of voters.

Alamo Heights, Texas rejected fluoridation in September 2008. A city council member who is a retired geophysicist, with a keen interest in research and the time to do it, confronted Texas “fluoridation experts” who were unable to answer important safety questions. As a result, the council unanimously said “No” to fluoridation.

Other US cities rejecting fluoridation in 2008 prior to Election Day: Littleton and Yarmouth, Massachusetts; Poughkeepsie, NY; Manila, California; Marion, Wisconsin.

In Canada: Quebec City, Quebec; Dryden, Welland, Pelham, and parts of Thorold, Ontario

In the UK: Isle of Man; Pendle, Hyndburn, and Lancashire, England.

In New Zealand: Alexandra, Earnslceugh/Manuheriki and Cromwell.



References



November 4, 2008 Election Results

http://fluoridealert.org/11-4-08.html



Communities which have rejected fluoridation

http://www.fluoridealert.org/communities.htm



Fluoride/IQ Studies

http://fluoridealert.org/iq.studies.html



American Dental Association gives Nebraska Dental Association fluoridation legislative award

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ADA-Honors-State-Local-Dental/story.aspx?guid={409B3331-CAA4-4C43-BC4E-C6234BDB896B}


or http://tinyurl.com/ADAnebraska

Adverse Health Effects from Fluoride
http://www.FluorideAction.Net/health

[Feron]

6. Just to be on the safe side..

I only drink rain water. ;-)