From the May 2002 Idaho Observer:

Anti-fluoridation forces are gaining ground, organizing, finding public and political support

Though hundreds of studies have been published proving that ingested fluoride is toxic to people while not preventing tooth decay, communities all over the nation are still fluoridating their water at the recommendation of the federal government and dentists are still subjecting their patients to toxic levels of the metal -- which is a byproduct of the phosphate fertilizer and aluminum industries. Just as anti-mass vaccination forces are gaining momentum, so are the anti-fluoridation forces. The bottom line to both issues is that those who create policy wish to medicate us all as if we are herd animals. In both cases they claim benefits that do not exist in an effort to expose the entire herd to substances that are toxic.

Fluoridation 101

by the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation

Impure, untested and unnecessary fluoride chemicals are legislated into most U.S. water supplies, not to kill nasty microbes, but to medicate tap water drinkers who are assured water fluoridation is a safe and effective way to prevent tooth decay. But it is neither safe nor effective.

A 1940s concept, water fluoridation and dentistry's continued goal, for every American's faucet to dispense 1 milligram fluoride via approximately one quart of water, is, shockingly, not supported by valid science.

Dentists mistakenly believed swallowed fluoride created decay resistant teeth by becoming part of children's developing enamel -- but they were wrong. Fluoride's beneficial effects, if any, are topical according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the American Dental Association (ADA).

Public health officials predicted fluoride would eradicate tooth decay like they claimed vaccines prevent diseases -- but they were wrong about that, too. They said fluoride was a necessary nutrient and, like vitamin C prevents scurvy, would prevent tooth decay -- wrong again. The U.S. Surgeon General reports tooth decay is at epidemic proportions among the nation's poor and minority populations, many of whom live in fluoridated communities.

Fluoride tablets are prescribed to children from communities that won't or can't fluoridate their water supply. With no solid research support, dentists say swallowing l milligram fluoride daily reduces tooth decay without fluoride's adverse effects such as dental fluorosis -- but they are even wrong about that.

Fluoride supplements, never safety tested by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), were “grandfathered” in before the FDA drug testing laws were enacted. New research shows that children who consume fluoride tablets are more at risk for dental fluorosis. That's why the Canadian Dental Association, the Western Australian Health Authority's Dental Section and the German Scientific Dental Association no longer recommend routine fluoride supplementation.

Astonishingly, research now shows swallowing fluoride is virtually useless and has unnecessarily exposed millions of Americans to fluoride's adverse side effects such as bone disease and dental fluorosis -- white spotted, yellow or brown stained and sometimes pitted and crumbly teeth -- which has, not so surprisingly, increased dramatically in North American children. Ironically, there are some studies that show tooth decay rates are virtually the same in fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities, alike. But babies who shun tap water and drink bottled water are protected against dental fluorosis.

Some studies even show that cavity levels decline after water fluoridation stops. And that those children most at risk for fluorosis are also the ones most at risk for cavities. And at levels 3 or 4 times “optimal,” fluoride can actually cause tooth decay.

In fact, dental fluorosis has gotten so bad that some dental experts say that it costs more to repair teeth damaged by fluoride than would have been saved had water fluoridation actually reduced tooth decay.

How we got into this mess

At the turn of the last century, many residents of the Southwest U.S. had unusually ugly teeth. They called it, “Colorado Brown Stain.” Dental researchers sought to discover the source of this disfiguring tooth malformation. The culprit was high levels of fluoride in the water. Since these ugly teeth resisted decay, well-meaning but misguided dentists assumed the fluoride also caused the teeth to resist decay. However, what they overlooked is significant. The water supply was also very high in calcium and magnesium -- essential nutrients we now know make teeth strong.

In another highly unbelievable move, the dentists convinced public health people to experiment with this new fluoride discovery. They hypothesized that, if natural fluoride (calcium fluoride) in drinking water makes teeth resist decay, let's see if artificially fluoridating a town's water makes any difference.

So they used all the people in a few cities like Grand Rapids, Michigan and Newburgh, New York as their guinea pigs. In Newburgh, they added sodium fluoride into the water supply in 1945 and left Kingston unfluoridated to act as the control.

Of course they declared fluoridation a success after only five years even though the teeth of the children who were born into the experiment hadn't even erupted yet. They said fluoride was safe because they examined school children who weren't sick two weeks before the examination date -- virtually eliminating the very children who may have been made ill by the fluoride. And they never even checked out the adults.

Ten years later, the State University of New York found that children in fluoridated Newburgh had more cortical bone defects and higher rates of hemoglobinemia. Kingston never fluoridated and recent studies show that tooth decay rates are higher in fluoridated Newburgh and their rates of dental fluorosis have sky-rocketed.

And what's even more perverse is that the chemical used to fluoridate your drinking water is an industrial waste product that, along with fluoride, carries lead, arsenic, and other contaminants to a faucet near you.

The silicofluorides haven't even been safety tested in animals. With the map of the U.S. as a laboratory, researchers are finding that silicofluorides increase children's lead absorption, increases women's risk of hip fractures, increases dental fluorosis, can lower IQ and contribute to cancer risk and DNA damage. Fluoridation has provided a lucrative sector for researchers to apply for federal grants to study the after effects of the crazy decision to put fluoride into our water supply and then see what happens.

Over 62 percent of U.S. communities fluoridate and most foods and beverages sold in the U.S. are made with that water. U.S. children are overdosed with fluoride whether rich or poor, healthy or malnourished from various sources. So it's not a surprise that after 50 years of pushing fluoride as a panacea to tooth decay, the U.S. Surgeon General recently reported an oral health epidemic among the poor and certain minority groups, who most often already live in fluoridated communities. If their bodies were properly nourished, their teeth would prosper. But instead dentists are lobbying legislators all over the U.S. to fluoridate water supplies - even when the people have voted against it and even when the studies say fluoride is hurting our children. Meanwhile, the ADA reported to the press on June 16, 2000, that they have a new cavity fighting tool - calcium.

What you can do

Join the nationwide call for congressional hearings on fluoridation.

URL: http://www.citizens.org/Food_Water_Safety/Fluoridation/fluoride.htm

The New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF) consists of physicians, dentists, legislators, lawyers, scientists, environmentalists and other professionals as well as mothers, fathers and others who contribute their efforts in a volunteer capacity to inform the public about fluoridation's harmful dental, systemic and cumulative effects. Our primary objective, ultimately, is to end the fluoridation of public water supplies. We are part of a national and international network of organizations that oppose water fluoridation.

NYSCOF: www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

Fluoride Action Network: http://www.fluoridealert.org

Other anti-fluoride websites:

www.bruha.com/fluoride

www.zerowasteamerica.org/fluoride.htm

www.penweb.org/fluoride