New York — (ArriveNet – Apr 29, 2005) — “Fluoridation honors” were bestowed upon many communities(1), which happen to have the highest cavity and tooth loss rates, by the American Dental Association (ADA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (AASTDD). The irony is that fluoridation promoters promised cavity reductions up to 65% when fluoride-laced water is consumed.

Organized dentistry neglected to check oral health before awarding their “2003 Community Water Fluoridation Awards.” Dentists may be embarrassed to learn they honored the most toothless and cavity-prone Americans in the name of water fluoridation.

Fluoride added to water supplies, usually at taxpayers’ expense, is publicized to save money and prevent tooth decay. Conspicuously absent are data supporting these claims.(2) In fact, government statistics reveal worse or less teeth in residents of fluoridation-honored communities than in their non-fluoridated counterparts. For example:

A) Dentists gave Fifty-Year Awards to fluoridating water systems including:

· seven West Virginia and 5 Kentucky water districts. Yet, 42% of mostly fluoridated(3) West Virginians and Kentuckians are edentulous – the country’s worst toothless rates.(4) And 66 percent of West Virginian children have cavities by age eight.(17) And Kentucky preschoolers’ cavity rate doubled after fluoridation was started in Kentucky.(18)

· the Tulsa, Oklahoma, water department, where 19% of residents lost six or more teeth.(5) Compare that to New York State’s two largest non-fluoridated counties, Suffolk and Nassau, where only 16% lost six or more teeth. Nassau and Suffolk received no kudos for retaining their natural choppers.

Further, an Oklahoma Department of Health Report reveals an “Alarming Prevalence of Tooth Decay Among Oklahoma’s Children,” where nearly 70 percent of third graders have cavities(6) although 75% drink fluoride-laced water.

· Nashville, Tennessee, where 20% lost 6 or more teeth. Contrast: Wichita, Kansas refused fluoridation, repeatedly over the years(7)(8). Results: more teeth for Wichita – only 14% lost 6 or more, less than most fluoridated cities. Yet, no awards for Wichita!

B) “State Fluoridation Quality Awards” were given to:

· 96% fluoridated Indiana, where 25% have lost all their teeth; 45% have lost 6 or more teeth.(4)

· 96% fluoridated North Dakota where 5,262 children participate in fluoride mouthrinse/tablet school programs and 44% of eight-year-olds participate in sealant programs. Yet, 51% of 6 to 8-year-olds and 70% of 14-year-olds olds have tooth decay.(9)

C) “State Fluoridation Reaffirmation Award” given to Monticello, Arkansas. “The state of Arkansas children’s dental health is in crisis and needs immediate attention” reports the Arkansas Department of Health(10). 72% of Arkansas third-graders have cavities despite 60% state-wide fluoridation(11).

D) “Community Initiative Awards” given to recently fluoridation-adopting communities, e.g. Pinellas County, Florida, over the strong objections of its citizens. (Citizens for Safe Water http://www.aquasafe.us/AquaSafe-Action.htm )

E) The “State Fluoridation Initiative Award” to Utah with the most teeth but least fluoridation of all the states (2%), not for their good dental health, but because “Utah has the most new systems fluoridating.” This despite vigorous citizen opposition. ( http://www.stopfluoridation.homestead.com )

F) California Fluoridation 2010 Workgroup and the $15 million funding from the California Endowment were awarded for forcing fluoridation in California while citizen groups in various cities formed, at their own expense, to resist the addition of an untested chemical into their drinking water.(15). Only four states have better tooth retention rates than slightly fluoridated (29%) California. The California Fluoridation Task Force, found that poor children had the most cavities regardless of fluoridation status.(16)

“The Surgeon General declared tooth decay a silent epidemic(12). Yet, two-thirds of Americans drink fluoridated water,” says lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation. “The truth is, most American children are fluoride over-dosed(13), and the poorly nourished get more cavities(14) regardless of fluoridation,” says Beeber.

References:

1) 2003 COMMUNITY WATER FLUORIDATION AWARDS, ASSOCIATION OF STATE AND TERRITORIAL DENTAL DIRECTORS, ANNUAL MEETING and NATIONAL ORAL HEALTH CONFERENCE, May 3, 2004
http://www.ada.org/public/topi cs/fluoride/fluoridation_award s.pdf

2) “What the ‘York Review’ on the fluoridation of drinking water really
found,” 28 October 2003, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination,
University of York, York, UK
http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd /fluoridnew.htm

3) February 2002, CDC: Populations Receiving Optimally Fluoridated
Public Drinking Water — United States, 2000
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/previe w/mmwrhtml/mm5107a2.htm

4) CDC: Public Health and Aging: Retention of Natural Teeth Among Older
Adults — United States, 2002
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/previe w/mmwrhtml/mm5250a3.htm

5) CDC: SMART: Selected Metropolitan/Micropolitan Area Risk Trends,
Oral Health: Lost 6 or more teeth due to decay or gum disease
http://tinyurl.com/bdsl7

6) COMANCHE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT, February 26, 2004
http://www.health.state.ok.us/ chds/comanche/Press-Media/2004 /Tooth%20…

7) “The Ayes Have It! Wichita Water Department: A History 1882-1982”,
chapter 8, page 098
http://tinyurl.com/dvoue

8) The Wichita Eagle, May 9, 2004, “What the Legislature Did”
http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagl e/news/local/8625104.htm

9) Overview of Oral Health in North Dakota Power Point Presentation
http://www.health.state.nd.us/ ndhd/prevent/mch/dental/summit 2000/Oral…

10) Dental health of state’s children said ‘in a crisis’
By Anthony Childress, 4/20/2004
http://www.jonesborosun.com/ar chivedstory.asp?ID=9010

11) CDC: “Percentage of 3rd Grade students with Caries Experience
(treated or untreated tooth decay) ”
http://www.cdc.gov/nohss/carie s_experience/byState.htm

12) “First-ever Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health Finds Profound
Disparities in Nation’s Population”
http://www.nidr.nih.gov/news/0 52500.asp

13) J Am Dent Assoc. 2002 Feb, Prevalence and trends in enamel
fluorosis in the United States from the 1930s to the 1980s,
Beltran-Aguilar ED, Griffin SO, Lockwood SA.
http://tinyurl.com/8g73e

14) “The relationship between healthful eating practices and dental
caries in children aged 2-5 years in the United States, 1988-1994,”
Journal of the American Dental Association, January 2004
http://tinyurl.com/4sc6d

15) http://www.fluoridealert.org/news/250.html

16) “The Association of Early Childhood Caries and Race/Ethnicity among
California Preschool Children,” Shiboski, Gansky, Ramos-Gomez, Ngo,
Isman, Pollick, Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Winter 2003.

17) Winter 2003 West Virginia Oral Health Task Force
http://www.wvvoices.org/librar y_downloads/OralHealth_Newsletter.pdf

18)
http://www.enn.com/direct/disp lay-release.asp?objid=D1D1366D 000000F8F…

For more information contact:
New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.
PO Box 263
Old Bethpage, NY 11804