New York State's Governor Patterson is proposing extensive tax increases to offset revenue shortfalls. But I have a better idea. Stop fluoridation.

This win-win decision for all states would save multi-millions of dollars and benefit every American – except maybe legislators beholden to special interest groups.

Science shows ending fluoridation saves teeth, money, preserves health and will reduce the carbon footprint, to boot, but it would irk organized dentistry. That’s the rub.

After 60 years of water fluoridation and over 50 years of fluoridated toothpaste, tooth decay is epidemic in the United States because 80% of dentists refuse to treat Medicaid patients and over 108 million Americans lack dental insurance (1). Children have died from untreated tooth decay. (2)

Diverting attention from their greed and heartlessness, dentists focus too-willing legislators on fluoridation (adding unnecessary fluoride chemicals into water supplies in a failed effort to prevent tooth decay), as if that would solve the problem. (3)

Far from fluoridation putting dentists out of business, as was once predicted, today’s dentists work fewer hours and days doing less critical work but make more money than many physicians. (4)

Seventy-two percent of NYS is fluoridated even though statistics show it’s failing to thwart cavities. (5) New York City, alone, spends approximately $14 million or more yearly on fluoridation chemicals, equipment and manpower.(6) Yet, NYC residents have among the highest cavity rates in the nation. (7)

Unfortunately, organized dentistry’s PAC money and political might speaks louder than science.(8)

One might argue that stopping fluoridation will cause higher dental costs. But studies show that, when fluoridation ends, cavities actually go down. (9) And the most highly fluoridated states have the highest rates of tooth loss. (10) Cavity crises are occurring in most fluoridated cities and states (See: http://www.FluorideNews.Blogspot.com )

Modern science shows that fluoride ingestion confers no benefits as early fluoridationists believed. Besides, today fluoride is in virtually all foods and beverages, (11) almost all toothpastes, some medicines, many dental products and is now a known component of air pollution.

No one disputes that too much fluoride is a bad thing. And there’s loads of evidence showing that Americans are over-fluoridated. For example, the Centers for Disease control reports that 48% of 12 - 15 year olds have dental fluorosis – white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted enamel – from too much fluoride ingestion when their teeth were forming. (12) We can’t see what fluoride is doing to their bones. (13)

For this reason, both the CDC and the American Dental Association advise that infant formula NOT be mixed with fluoridated water.

The National Kidney Foundation also advises kidney patients to avoid fluoridated water as malfunctioning kidneys can allow a toxic build up of fluoride in bones causing them to weaken and break. (14)

New York State can’t afford the money to get this information out. Fluoridation is outdated, unnecessary and harmful. It must be stopped.

The remedy: Dentists have unfairly influenced our legislators to pass laws that benefit themselves (15) while neglecting those that need them the most. In return, Dentists must be required to treat a certain percentage of patients for free, on a sliding scale basis or accept Medicaid payments.

Tell your local and state legislators you want fluoridation stopped.

Tell Congress you want fluoridation stopped and Congressional hearings held about why federal officials continue to promote fluoridation in the face of growing evidence of harm and ineffectiveness: http://congress.FluorideAction.Net

END

References:

1) http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/news/pressreleases/pr_oral_52000.htm

2) “For Want of a Dentist,” by Mary Otto, The Washington Post, February 27, 2007

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022702116.html

3) How California Deceptively Passed a Statewide Fluoridation Mandate http://www.edhtelegraph.com/detail/89290.html

Louisiana Mandates Fluoridation Despite Evidence of Harm http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Louisiana-May-Mandate-Fluoridation-Despite-Evidence-of-Harm-20853-1/

4)”New Drill - Tale of Two Docs: Why Dentists Are Earning More,” by Mark Maremont, The Wall Street Journal, Monday, January 10, 2005

http://www.flapsblog.net/2005/01/new-drill-tale-of-two-docs-why.html

5) NYS Department of Health statistics show that fluoridation fails to reduce tooth decay. See chart: http://tinyurl.com/NYSchart

6) Fluoridation Does Not Save Money or Teeth

http://fluoridedangers.blogspot.com/2005/11/fluoridation-does-not-save-money-or.html

7) Evidence that Fluoridation Has Failed New York

http://www.freewebs.com/fluoridation/fluoridationfailsnewyork.htm

8) “Open Wide for $25K” NY Daily News, by Elizabeth Benjamin, July 12, 2008

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2008/07/open-wide-for-25k.html

“In Rift Among Dentist Groups, a Tale of Political Clout.”

By Sam Roberts, New York Times, June 23, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/nyregion/23dentist.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

9) When Fluoridation Ends So Do Cavities

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/relatedconditions/a/flushot.htm

10) More Fluorde = Less Teeth

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1002581/posts

11) USDA Fluoride Database 2005 http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=6312

12) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/figures/s403a1t23.gif

13) http://groups.google.com/group/Fluoridation-News-Releases/browse_thread/thread/20b328821b24dcc4/9882f8d2ce4caad5?lnk=gst&q=fluorosis+fractures#9882f8d2ce4caad5

14) National Kidney Foundation, “Fluoride Intake in Chronic Kidney Disease,” April 15, 2008

http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/Fluoride_Intake_in_CKD.pdf

(15) Middlesex County Dental Society (New Jersey) President’s Message