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Worldwide use of fluoride

2 min read

To the editor:

Water fluoridation is the practice of adding industrial-grade fluoride chemicals to water for the purpose of preventing tooth decay. One of the little known facts about this practice is that the United States, which fluoridates over 70 percent of its water supplies, has more people drinking fluoridated water than the rest of the world combined. Most developed nations, including all of Japan and 97 percent of Western Europe, do not fluoridate their water. China, Japan and India have banned it. In the United States, the Oral Health Division of the Centers for Disease Control hails fluoridation as one of the “top ten public health achievements of the 20th century.” However, comprehensive data from the World Health Organization reveals that there is no discernible difference in tooth decay between the minority of western nations (only 5.7 percent of world population) that fluoridate water, and the majority that do not. In fact, the tooth decay rates in many non-fluoridated countries are now lower than the tooth decay rates in fluoridated ones. In the U.S., non-fluoridated cities have equal or lower rates of tooth decay than cities that do and without dental fluorisis or any of a number of other afflictions.

It is clear, fluoridating water supplies is an outdated, unnecessary and dangerous relic from a 1950s public health culture that viewed mass distribution of drugs much differently than honest scientists do today.

Do your own research, go to Fluoride Action Network at Fluoridealert.org or NoFluoride.com or citizensforsafewater.org. If you want store-bought information go to the ADA or CDC web sites.

Jamie Richard

St. James City