Misconceptions About Water Fluoridation
The fluoridation of city water supplies has been named one of the ten great public health achievements in the 20th century according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If water fluoridation is so momentous, why does only 67% of the United States population have access to fluoridated water (CDC)? In order to explain this, it is important to explore the many misconceptions about fluoridation.
Misconception #1: Water fluoridation is merely the government’s way to medicate citizens without their permission or knowledge.
Water fluoridation is actually a safe, effective, and inexpensive way to protect the teeth of all residents in a community. Unlike many medical treatments or preventive methods, everyone (men, women, children and adults alike) will have access to the protective benefits that fluoride has to offer, with no regard to socio-economic status. Fluoridated water has been proven to protect teeth from decay or even reverse the decay process.
Misconception #2: Water fluoridation is too expensive and has little cost benefit.
Water fluoridation has been calculated by the CDC to save up to $38 in dental treatment for every $1 invested in fluoridation. Furthermore, a study completed by the CDC in 2000 states that average per person savings ranged from $15.95 in very small communities to $18.62 in large communities. It was shown that even in worst case scenarios with high levels of treatment expenses, fluoridation was still cost-effective. In fact, it is estimated that fluoridation costs merely $0.50 per person in communities >20,000 and only $3 per person in communities <5,000. Even in the smallest communities, this amounts to less than a penny a day per person, or less than a nickel a day for an average family of four!
Misconception #3: Water fluoridation causes dental fluorosis, which actually weakens the teeth.
It has been shown that communities with highly naturally fluoridated water have seen high numbers of children with dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis only occurs during tooth formation and becomes apparent when teeth come in. It can range from symmetrical whitish areas on the teeth (very mild) to brownish discoloration with pitting of the enamel (very severe). Though dental fluorosis certainly isn’t cosmetically pleasing, it has been shown that this does not affect the teeth strength, function, or promote adverse dental health effects. Mild cases of dental fluorosis have typically been seen in communities with more than 1ppm of fluoride in the water. Typical levels in fluoridated water range from 0.7 – 1.2ppm.
Misconception #4: Water fluoridation can cause cancer, decreased IQ, decreased bone strength, impaired immune system, impair thyroid function and many other ailments.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have not found any reason to believe that water fluoridation causes cancer, decreased IQ, decreased bone strength, impaired immune system, or impaired thyroid function. To the contrary, some studies have shown that fluoridation actually increases bone strength, though more studies are required to make a full statement regarding fluoride’s impact on bone density. Furthermore, many studies performed on mice and human subjects have shown no significant difference in cancer incidence between those with access to fluoridated water and those without.
It is quite a rare occurrence to find a public health initiative that is not only accessible by all people, but also inexpensive and cost-effective. Water fluoridation is needed in communities around the United States to protect the dental health of all people.
For more information regarding water fluoridation, please visit these websites:
www.cdc.gov
www.who.int
References:
(2007). Water Fluoridation. Retrieved January 16, 2008, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov.
Whitney Johnson
posted by carol cox @ 7:55 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
This blog is very informational. I didn't have any clue that those misconceptions existed about water flouridation. But I don't know much about the subject anyway. I wonder why people have such a problem with the government trying to create a method to improve the health of the community. Sometimes people are so backwards. And the misconception about it lowering one's IQ...where did that come from?
That last comment was from Ashley Hawkins by the way.
In a statement released August 9, 2007, over 600 (now over 1,400) professionals urge Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted. They cite new scientific evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. (http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html)
Signers include a Nobel Prize winner, three members of the prestigious 2006 National Research Council (NRC) panel that reported on fluoride’s toxicology, two officers in the Union representing professionals at EPA headquarters, the President of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment, and hundreds of medical, dental, academic, scientific and environmental professionals, worldwide.
Signer Dr. Arvid Carlsson, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Medicine, says, “Fluoridation is against all principles of modern pharmacology. It's really obsolete.”
An Online Action Petition to Congress in support of the Professionals' Statement is available on FAN's web site, www.fluorideaction.org/congress .
“The NRC report dramatically changed scientific understanding of fluoride's health risks," says Paul Connett, PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network. "Government officials who continue to promote fluoridation must testify under oath as to why they are ignoring the powerful evidence of harm in the NRC report,” he added.
An Assistant NY State Attorney General calls the report “the most up-to-date expert authority on the health effects of fluoride exposure.”
The Professionals’ Statement also references:
-- The new American Dental Association policy recommending infant formula NOT be prepared with fluoridated water.
-- The CDC’s concession that the predominant benefit of fluoride is topical not systemic.
-- CDC data showing that dental fluorosis, caused by fluoride over-exposure, now impacts one third of American children.
-- Major research indicating little difference in decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.
-- A Harvard study indicating a possible link between fluoridation and bone cancer.
-- The silicofluoride chemicals used for fluoridation are contaminated industrial waste and have never been FDA- approved for human ingestion.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a DC watchdog, revealed that a Harvard professor concealed the fluoridation/bone cancer connection for three years. EWG President Ken Cook states, “It is time for the US to recognize that fluoridation has serious risks that far outweigh any minor benefits, and unlike many other environmental issues, it's as easy to end as turning off a valve at the water plant.”
Further, researchers reporting in the Oct 6 2007 British Medical Journal indicate that fluoridation, touted as a safe cavity preventive, never was proven safe or effective and may be unethical. (1)
Partially, as a result of the professionals' statement, at least one city, Cobleskill NY, stopped 54 years of water fluoridation. See: http://www.fluoridealert.org/news/2998.html
Many communities rejected or stopped fluoridation over the years. See: http://www.fluoridealert.org/communities.htm
On October 2, Juneau Alaska voters rejected fluoridation despite the American Dental Association's $150,000 political campaign to return fluoride into the water supply after the legislative body voted it out.
January 2008, Scientific American published an article, "Second Thoughts about Fluoride."
SOURCE: Fluoride Action Network http://www.FluorideAction.Net
References:
(1) “Adding fluoride to water supplies,” British Medical Journal, KK Cheng, Iain Chalmers, Trevor A. Sheldon, October 6, 2007
the last post needs to do his homework -
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