TO THE EDITOR: This letter is in response to the Jan. 28 editorial “Don’t Halt Fluoridation.”

This poorly researched and worded article would be amusing to me if it had not such serious consequences for all denizens of Plattsburgh. After reading it I was reminded of a famous Einstein quote: “Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance.”

If the editor would have bothered to research the information for himself he would have reached the conclusion that the biggest proponents of fluoridating American water supplies concede that the “benefits” of fluoride are topical, meaning that it works from the outside of the tooth and not from within the body after ingestion (eight glasses a day, kids!!).

The editor states that “…no one we know of has demonstrated that children’s brains have been fogged, though local dentists attest to substantial gains against tooth decay.” Again, investigation would have led the editor to the fact that dental caries (cavities) are also substantially lower in areas where fluoridation is not permitted (see almost all of western Europe). Ostensibly, it is the editor’s brain which is fogged.

Furthermore, the editor should also know there are very genuine moral and legal questions that are raised. How can the city morally medicate the public if there is no informed consent of and how can the city legally medicate the water supply if you cannot control the doses. The answer is you cannot.

Finally, just because something has been occurring for so long and is espoused as beneficial and veracious doesn’t necessarily make it so. But I’m afraid that arrogant local dentists like Robert Heins (“I’ll have every dentist on the planet there if I have to.”) and many others would risk the health of fellow citizens as opposed to admitting they were sedulously incorrect. After all, Mr. Heins has had a nice career. Why let facts get in the way of that?

Chris Dewey

Plattsburgh

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