Debating Fluoridation<br>What Evidence Is There
That Water Fluoridation Prevents
Cavities?<br><br>Commentary<br>By Nicholas Regush<br>Feb 15 — If you dare to
take a
step into the world of junk science and fanaticism,
then begin by taking a stroll to your bathroom and
check out your toothpaste. You may be surprised.
<br><br>There likely is a little warning section on the tube
that suggests you keep it out of the reach of children
under 6 years of age. In fact, any child between the
ages of 2 and 6 should only use a pea-sized
amount.<br>And should you be one of “those” hedonists who can’t
easily control yourself and occasionally allow some of
that yummy peppermint or strawberry flavor to go down
the hatch, well, think again. Swallowing more than
what you use for brushing is a major no-no. You may
have to “seek professional assistance or contact a
Poison Control Center immediately.”<br><br>That scary
warning on your toothpaste which began appearing in 1997
is about fluoride. The Food and Drug Administration
considers ingestion of fluoride toothpaste to be
potentially poisonous. Little wonder, considering that
fluoride is a by-product of aluminum and fertilizer
manufacturing and contains heavy metals such as lead, arsenic
and chromium. Fluoride is not a high-purity
pharmaceutical, to put it conservatively.<br><br><br>Does
Fluoridated Water Fight Cavities? <br><br>But the fluoride is
in your toothpaste to fight cavities. When it comes
into direct contact with teeth, fluoride appears to
help. The much bigger questions are whether we need to
fluoridate the entire water supply to achieve this and
whether water fluoridation, an indirect method to fight
cavities, actually works. <br><br>The answers don’t come
easily, even though loud voices on both sides of the
debate for the past 55 years have been giving the
impression that scientific truth is definitely on their
side.<br><br>Fierce political battles have been raging in many
communities across the country about whether to fluoridate
the water supply ever since Grand Rapids, Mich. took
the first step in 1945. Thus far, about 60 percent of
the U.S. water supply is fluoridated.<br><br>Those
scientists, medical and dental organizations, consumer
advocates, government officials and chemical industry
representatives in favor of fluoridation insist that hundreds, if
not thousands of studies, support fluoridation as a
means to prevent cavities. They also claim it is safe.
<br><br>On the other side, those opposing fluoridation cite
a tide of research, particularly in the past
decade, suggesting that long-term fluoride consumption
can cause cancer, neurological problems and brittle
bones, and may create a fundamental alteration of human
bone architecture. <br><br>It's Better Dental Hygiene
Not Fluoridation <br><br>One argument against
fluoridation is that it doesn’t contribute much, if anything
on average, to cavity rate reduction. Rather, the
decline in cavity rates are seen as due, for example, to
higher standards of living, less consumption of refined
sugar and more dental flossing and brushing of
teeth.<br><br>It is noteworthy that most countries in Europe have
opted not to fluoridate their water supplies,
contending that public dental health does not require it.
<br><br><a
href=http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/SecondOpinion/secondopinion010215.htm\
l
target=new>http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/SecondOpinion/secondopinion0102\
15.html</a>