FL

Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Conference of State Dental Directors (1951)

In June 1950—about five years after community water fluoridation had begun in the United Stated—dental directors and public health officials met to discuss fluoridation’s status and how to deal with the opposition likely to occur when promoting it to local communities. The conference participants knew how valuable it was but noted that opposition should be expected. To  minimize opposition, they agreed about emphasizing the benefits and responding to scare tactics when needed. The published transcript provides a fascinating look at the early history of fluoridation. The main speaker at the meeting was Francis A. (Frank) Bull, D.D.S., Director of Dental Health for the Wisconsin State Board of Health. Curiously, for several decades, fluoridation opponents used quotes from his talk out of context to falsely suggest that fluoridation …

Connett

Dental Fluorosis: Much Ado about Nothing

Fluoridation opponents would like you to believe that water fluoridation is dangerous because it leads to a high incidence of dental fluorosis. This article explains why they are wrong. Dental fluorosis is an alteration of dental enamel caused by ingestion of more than the optimal amount of fluoride during tooth development. The degree of fluorosis is usually classified this way: Fluoridation opponents like to cite CDC statistics showing that the incidence among adolescents aged 12-15 rose from 22.6% in 1986-87 to 40.7% in 1999-2004 [1]. Taken by itself, that statement is factual but misleading. Questionable, very mild, and mild fluorosis and most cases of moderate fluorosis are barely visible and pose no problem whatsoever. In addition, it’s been shown that teeth with fluorosis are more …

Community Water Fluoridation on the Internet and Social Media

To reach an audience of 50 million people, it took radio 38 years and television 13 years, but it only took the Internet under 4 years.1 Facebook took only 8 years to reach more than 1 billion users, and Twitter took just 6 years to reach slightly under one-half billion users.2-4 In the United States alone, Facebook and Twitter have 166 million and 140 million users, respectively. 3,4 The reach of the Internet and social media is unprecedented and almost unlimited. According to the Pew Research Center, 97 percent of Americans 18–29 years old and 87 percent of adults over 18 use the Internet, with 72 percent of Internet users in 2013 utilizing it to look for health information.5,6 Social media is used by 73 …

Links to Key Documents on Community Water Fluoridation

British Government Report (2014) – This report by Public Health England reviewed research on the effectiveness and safety of fluoride/fluoridation.  Its conclusion: “The report provides further reassurance that water fluoridation is a safe and effective public health measure.” The report found no link between fluoride and various health concerns, including hip fractures, Down’s syndrome and multiple forms of cancer. (posted or updated in March 2014) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296329/Water_fluoridation_health_monitoring_for_England.pdf CDC Presentation at Grand Rounds (2013) – These are the slides from a presentation given on community water fluoridation at CDC’s Grand Rounds.  The presenter was Barbara Gooch, who is Associate Director of Science for CDC’s Division of Oral Health. There are many interesting components.  For example, Slide 5 provides a graph illustrating how the expansion of community water …

Fluoridation: Don’t Let the Poisonmongers Scare You

Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in most water supplies. Fluoridation is the adjustment of the natural fluoride concentration to about one part of fluoride to one million parts of water. Although fluoridation is safe and effective in preventing tooth decay, the scare tactics of misguided poisonmongers have deprived many communities of its benefits. The history of fluoridation in the United States underlines its unique standing as a public health measure copied from a natural phenomenon. In the early 1900s, Dr. Frederick S. McKay began an almost 30-year search for the cause of the staining of teeth that was prevalent in Colorado, where he practiced dentistry. In his investigation, McKay found the condition common in other states, including Texas, where it was known as …

Salt Fluoridation Effective in Reducing Tooth Decay

Table salt fluoridation can reduce the prevalence of dental caries up to 84%, according to a new book published by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Promoting Oral Health: The Use of Salt Fluoridation to Prevent Dental Caries. Salt fluoridation programs over the last decade have placed the countries of the Americas at the leading edge in reducing dental caries, and these programs are now being replicated in other regions, the book notes. Fluoridation benefits also translate into savings in dental treatments of up to $250 per person for every $1 spent on fluoridation initiatives. “Dental caries is the most common childhood disease and can be avoided thanks to salt fluoridation,” said PAHO’s Dr. Saskia Estupiñan-Day, regional advisor on oral health and author of the …

British Groups Publish Comprehensive Fluoridation Report

All water supplies contain fluoride naturally. Water fluoridation is the process of `topping up’ the natural fluoride content of public water supplies to a level that is known to improve dental health safely and effectively. In temperate climates that level is 1 part of fluoride per million parts of water (1 pm); this is a level that occurs naturally in many places throughout the world. What are the dental benefits? Despite an overall improvement in dental health over the past 30 years, tooth decay remains a significant public health problem in some parts of the UK. Inequalities in dental health are widespread throughout the UK, with children living in the poorest, non-fluoridated communities continuing to suffer unacceptably high levels of tooth decay. Many studies have …

Fluoridation Statistics

Source: National Oral Health Surveillance System This page was posted on November 4, 2004.

Why We Have Not Changed Our Minds about the Safety and Efficacy of Water Fluoridation

A Response to John Colquhoun In 1997, the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine published an opinion piece, “Why I changed my mind about water fluoridation,” by John Colquhoun [1]. Although the journal’s stated purpose is to convey new ideas or stimulate original thought in biological and medical sciences, Colquhoun presented no new data. His paper rehashed earlier criticisms of water fluoridation, using selective and highly biased citations of the scientific and nonscientific literature [2-10]. Colquhoun, who died in March 1999, was a dental officer in New Zealand during the 1970s and early 1980s. His writings display blatant bias in evaluating the published literature on fluoridation, criticizing any study supporting fluoridation for poor design (e.g. non-blind examinations, non-random selection of subjects and communities), while ignoring gross defects …