As a medical doctor, I find it heartening as I travel throughout New South Wales and Queensland to find so many enlightened and educated people on the contentious subject of artificial water fluoridation. Unfortunately, it appears that your medical, dental and public health entities have co-opted the argument, and continue to pressure for this practice.
Let’s take a closer look at where we are now, and where we can and should be going, with our dental and total health.
Safety
In Canada, we tired of the constant barrage of ‘safe and effective’ so we asked Health Canada for safety studies. They refused. We then sought to find out about the studies they relied on for fluoridation under the Freedom of Information Act and, after 1.5 years, Health Canada got back to us and admitted that they had none. Not a single safety study was to be found!
The situation is similar here in Australia, as industry and government have no incentive or motivation to do extensive long-term studies when they can glibly throw out ‘trust us, it’s safe’ and move on to the next issue.
Babies in particular are subject to excessively high doses of fluoride when infant formula is made with fluoridated water. Mother Nature appears to have the upper hand here, as breast milk, the healthiest way on the planet to nurture babies, has as little as 1/200 the dose as does fluoridated water.
Toxicity
Swallowing fluoride is admitted to be mostly ineffective and that any effects are primarily topical, even by the heavily biased Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA.
Ingested, the volatile fluorine ion readily crosses the placental and blood-brain barriers, and has access to every cell, organ and body system. There are now more than1,000 studies showing potential harm. These include calcification of the ‘seat of the soul’ pineal gland in the brain, highly significant decrease in IQ of 4–7 points in kids, thyroid enzyme toxicity, heart and kidney damage, thickened but weakened bone, and increases in cancers such as sarcoma in young boys.
Of particular note is the marked increase in fluorosis, or damage to teeth themselves, mostly in children.
The promise that we would never see fluorosis levels anywhere near 10 per cent in fluoridated areas have been broken. Now, we are seeing white or brown mottling, and in severe cases broken and disfigured teeth, in ever increasing numbers. The extensive NHANES population study in the USA revealed an alarming 57 per cent of teens have varying degrees of fluorosis, which is also an indicator that damage is being done not only to teeth but to all body organs and systems.
The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, comprising of dentists, researchers, MDs, and toxicologists, has come out very strongly against water fluoridation. A search of their papers and studies is edifying yet frightening.
Where we can, and should, go
Fluoridationists often pressure and advocate for public votes such as plebiscites and referendums on whether to fluoridate our otherwise safe water supplies. In most developed countries, health authorities have access to large sums of money to produce high-quality ads and promotional materials and are therefore confident that they can get their message out much more readily than grassroots-funded opponents. However, the vastly underfunded opposition has produced victories in hundreds of cities, communities and municipalities, of particular note my city of Calgary in Canada, and Portland in the USA.
The most important aspect of plebiscites is that we have no right to vote on whether or not to medicate our neighbours. The decision to mass medicate should be undertaken by those elected to make policy decisions.
In Calgary, in 2011, city councillors made a bold decision based not solely on science, as they are not scientists, but on the morality and ethics of mass medicating their entire constituency with a highly toxic chemical, without control of dose or dosage, without follow-up, and without informed consent.
What, then, can we do for our babies, children, the poorest and most vulnerable?
1. Stop all fluoridation, and use the monies currently allocated for fluoridation supplies and infrastructure to educate and provide basic dental services to vulnerable groups.
2. Institute programs based on the hugely successful ChildSmile program in Scotland. That country allows no water fluoridation, and has pioneered amazing programs since 2001 that have resulted in much healthier teeth in kids and teens, better overall oral health, and vastly improved total body health – decreased obesity, less diabetes and a host of other benefits.
3. Extensive education programs to elucidate all ages, from toddlers to the elderly, on the huge importance of brushing, diet, fresh fruits and veges, and a marked decrease in sugar consumption.
We can, and should, be improving the health of all our constituents, not just abdicating to highly contentious mass medication. We can do so much better!
♦ Robert C Dickson, MD, CCFP, FCFP, is a community physician in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and is the founder of Safe Water Calgary (www.safewatercalgary.com). He is currently travelling in eastern Australia.
There has been an avalanche of studies on fluoride’s neurotoxicity. For example, in our 2016 petition we cited 232 studies on the neurotoxicity of fluoride that were published after the National Research Council (2006) landmark review concluded that, “it is apparent that fluorides have the ability to interfere with the functions of the brain (p 222).”
These studies include the critically important 12-year U.S.-government funded study by Bashash et al. (2017), which reported a very strong correlation between exposure of pregnant women to fluoride (at levels experienced in the U.S.) and a significant 6 IQ points loss in their offspring. Shockingly, despite its scientific and public health importance, and the rigor with which the study was conducted, it was not covered in any major newspaper in the U.S!
Sadly, even though we know how serious this matter is – most citizens and decision-makers are blissfully unaware of the situation,
The levels of fluoridation in Australia are lower than in North America and does not constitute medication so terms such as mass medication are false.
The claim that there are more than 1000 studies showing potential harm is a meaningless statement designed to scare and mislead.
Clean drinking water can be purchased from supermarkets for as little as 30 cents per litre for those who are stridently apposed to fluoride.
The largest growth in disease in the developed world today is lifestyle disease primarily due to inactivity, over eating of processed foods & sugar consumption.
Focusing on fluoridation of water is akin to fiddling while Rome burns.
The recommended level in the US is 0.7ppm, whereas the typical level in Australia is 1ppm, a 43% higher concentration.
Many of these people also oppose vaccination programs- what can one say about that?
That they’re smarter than you
Gene Torcia should get his facts straight before attacking a medical doctor who is only concerned about the dangers of adding a known poison to the reticulated water supplies. The fact is that the Federal Drug Authority (FDA) treats fluoridation as an untested drug. Furthermore the accepted level of artificial fluoride in the USA had to be reduced from 1.1mgs?parts per million to 0.07mgs/parts per million due to the alarming level of dental fluorosis. Of course Australia failed to follow the USA lead and continues to allow Councils to add up to 1.5mgs/parts per million and this is twice as high the amount. Please check your “facts” before putting fake news in order to discredit the real evidence and deceive unsuspecting consumers.
I find all this rushing to knock fluoride in drinking water a joke. When the absolute correct level of fluoride is added to water the level of tooth decay reduces.
I will never believe anything that comes out of the USA, they must blame someone or something for whatever bad things happen.
Children in Victoria, who grew up with only fluoridated water, have the least number of childhood cavities in Australia.
Too much of any chemical including fluoride being put into our drinking water will have consequences.
Having said that, the exact correct amount has been proved to reduce the level of tooth decay in children as well as adults.
If everyone was to believe the rubbish that comes out of the USA we would all be dead and buried.
I agree with Marianne on one point, some rubbish comes out of the USA.
Forced Fluoridation was first started in 1945 in the USA, when “research” from the Aluminium industry was used to justify using the water supply treat the public’s teeth.
By “coincidence” Forced Fluoridation was started in 1953 in Beaconsfield Tasmania, just across the bay from Australia’s first ever aluminium smelter under construction by ALCOA, the Aluminium Company of America, to be opened in 1955.
Since then, only 5% of the world’s population has Politicians that force this toxic Govt Oral Healthcare Treatment into the water supply.
“The volatile fluorine ion”?? The author of this piece seems to have the chemistry wrong. Elemental fluorine is a gas, soluble compounds of fluoride dissociate in water to release fluoride ions, which are available to bond with hydroxyapatite in dental enamel. Fluoride ions are not “volatile” (they only exist in solution) and don’t cross cell membranes.
FLuoride is present in natural water supplies all over the world, in highly varying concentrations. Toxicity occurs where the NATURAL fluoride levels are high. There has never been a case of fluoride toxicity, just from drinking regulated fluoridated town water, anywhere in the world.
Water fluoridation DECREASES the rate of dental fluorosis – a harmless white patchiness of teeth – because ingestion is much safer than taking fluoride supplements.
Most of all, water fluoridation benefits those children living in chaotic family situations, without the benefits of good dental hygiene.
As a medical doctor, I don’t like to see colleagues spreading misinformation.
There are dozens of cases studies of fluoride toxicity from fluoridated water or equivalent doses from supplementation.Do a search for fluoride side effects. The fluoride ion easily crosses cell membranes. In the US they actually lowered the fluoride level from 1.0 ppm to 0.7 ppm because of the high rate of dental fluorosis. So much for you accusing others of spreading misinformation! In the whole of human history there has not been one case of fluoride deficiency ever recorded.Brush your teeth with it if you want to or hand out toothpaste and toothbrushes to the needy but don’t dose them.