Sixty-five years ago, sodium fluoride powder was slowly poured into Grand Rapids, Michigan’s public water supply to see if drinking fluoridated water (fluoridation) really safely reduced children’s tooth decay. Nearby Muskegon was left fluoridation-free, for only 5 years, as the experiment’s control city for comparison purposes even though evaluations were made after 15 years. (1)

Before then, sodium fluoride was mainly used as a rat poison.

The study failed and was seriously flawed; but early over-zealous fluoridationists ignored this inconvenient truth. Fluoridation was declared a success, anyway (2) and spread across the country and the world based on positive-spun PR but invalid science.

So what’s happening today?

Grand Rapids children have high rates of tooth decay and fluoride overdose – dental fluorosis, white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted enamel.(3)

According to the Grand Rapids Press, one pediatric dentist said in 2007 “…we see children under the age of 2 with active decay…Rather than just a few cavities, we’re seeing a lot of cavities. It’s not unusual to see a child with 8 to 10 cavities.” (4)

Despite 65 years of water fluoridation reaching 70% of Americans on public water supplies and virtually 100% via the food supply and despite 55 years of fluoridated toothpaste, tooth decay has increased in our most fluoridated population – toddlers – and UNtreated tooth decay has risen, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). (5) Incredibly, American children have died from the consequences of untreated tooth decay. (5a) with up to 48% of US school children now sporting dental fluorosis, according to the CDC.

Today sodium fluoride is purchased from China and something’s wrong with it. Water engineers complain it’s clogging up their systems. (6)

Fluoridation opposition is scientific, respectable and growing.

Over 2,700 professionals urge the US Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted, citing scientific evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. See statement http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html

Also, eleven Environmental Protection Agency employee unions representing over 7000 environmental and public health professionals called for a moratorium on drinking water fluoridation programs across the country, and have asked EPA management to recognize fluoride as posing a serious risk of causing cancer in people.

Approximately, 80 US communities rejected fluoridation in 2008 & 2009 (7) .

References:

1) Arnold FA. 1957. Grand Rapids fluoridation study – results pertaining to the eleventh year of fluoridation. American Journal of Public Health. May. “In making comparisons on these data it should be remembered that Muskegon started fluoridation in July 1951”

2) Sutton P. 1960. Fluoridation: errors and omissions in experimental trials. Chapters 19, 20 and 21. Melbourne University Press. Australia.

3) Jarema M. 2007. Some babies get too much fluoride. The Grand Rapids Press. October 9.

4) Ackerman-Haywood J. 2007. Protecting kids’ teeth includes trips to the dentist. The Grand Rapids Press. June 19.

5) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2007. Oral health improving for most Americans, but tooth decay among preschool children on the rise. National Center for Health Statistics, Office of Communication. Press release. April 30.

5a) Otto M. 2007. For want of a dentist. Washington Post. February 28. See also http://www.pedidental.org/pdfs/PDI%20Holiday%20Newsletter.pdf

6) Hendricks L. 2010. Feds note fluoride problem. The Daily News (Newburyport, Massachusetts). January 25.

7) Communities which have rejected fluoridation since 1990. Fluoride Action Network.