Caanada - The decision to stick with fluoridated water passed by a slim margin

Fluoride to stay
The decision to stick with fluoridated water passed by a slim margin following yesterday’s marathon regional council meeting.

The words used during the 10 hours of delegations varied greatly, depending on who was speaking. Doctors, dentists and medical researchers described fluoride as a mineral naturally found in water sources; a great equalizer that levels the playing field between those who can afford dental care and those who can’t and one of the most important health interventions of the last century.

However, those on the other side of the debate said the long-term effects of continued ingestion of fluoride are still largely unknown, and they described the additive as a forced medicine and a cancer-causer.

Convincing arguments from both sides of the debate led to a narrow 11-nine vote in favour of continued fluoridation......

Scottish kids benefit from Childsmile

Scottish kids benefit from Childsmile
Children across Scotland are now benefitting from a programme designed to improve their oral health.
The £15m Childsmile nursery, school and practice programmes have now been rolled out across the country, and are being delivered in every health board in Scotland.
The programme emphasises the importance of tooth brushing and helps parents establish a healthy diet from the earliest stage.
Through the Childsmile initiative, every nursery in Scotland is offered free, daily, supervised toothbrushing for their children, and a number of nurseries and schools in targeted areas also provide fluoride varnish and toothbrushing in primary one and two.
Every child is provided with a dental pack containing a toothbrush, tube of fluoride toothpaste and an information leaflet on at least six occasions by the age of five.
And since the end of last year, all families with newborn babies across Scotland are now offered information on Childsmile from their health visitor.
If the family is not registered with a dentist, Childsmile staff will contact families at the three month stage to offer oral health advice and help them find a dentist for their child.....

Australia - Legal stoush over fluoride in Hastings water

Legal stoush over fluoride in Hastings water
01 Feb, 2012 04:00 AM
CAMPAIGNERS are considering legal action against Port Macquarie-Hastings Council as the introduction of fluoride into our water supply moves closer to inevitability.
Pending approval from the NSW Office of Water – likely to occur next week – the council’s fluoridation operation is expected to begin by early March. Two groups – Fluoridation Action Network Australia (FAN) and Citizens Against Fluoridation (CAF) – are determined to force the council to assume responsibility for the decision to fluoridate.
The groups also want the local government to hold a community poll on the issue at September's election.
Port News understands CAF plans to establish a fighting fund to help cover costs and will seek donations, should it pursue legal action.
The council maintains authorising fluoridation is a state government matter.
But FAN and CAF argue a legal precedent has been set in Ballina, in northern NSW.
The NSW Land and Environment Court ruled the shire council had failed to provide an assessment of the effects on both the environment and public health from the introduction of fluoride into the water supply there.
A second ruling is expected soon. Port Macquarie-Hastings Council has not prepared an environmental impact study.
An injunction could yet block the fluoridation operation here, a FAN spokeswoman said.


Noun. stoush (plural stoushes). ( Australian, New Zealand, formal) a fight, an argument (I had to look up the meaning)

Governments Passing Forced Fluoridation Laws!!

Australia 2012 Hastings

New York TImes

Fluoridation Pro and Con (2 Letters)Published: January 30, 2012
To the Editor:
Re “Dental Exam Went Well? Thank Fluoride” (Personal Health, Jan. 24): When the three of us (retired professors in chemistry, physics and biology) wrote a book on the fluoridation controversy, we hoped it would raise the level of the debate. In “The Case Against Fluoride,” our arguments were supported with numerous scientific citations, which proponents of fluoridation have made little effort to acknowledge or refute. We cannot expect sensible decisions to be made on these matters when one side pretends there is no debate and a leading newspaper like The New York Times lets them get away with it.
Paul Connett
Canton, N.Y.
James Beck, M.D.
Calgary, Alberta
Spedding Micklem
Edinburgh

♦

To the Editor:

Congratulations to Jane E. Brody on her well-written article on water fluoridation, which is in line with accepted scientific evidence and peer-reviewed articles in numerous journals. Her writing is a contrast to the ubiquitous misinformation and misuse of raw data available on the Internet. Water fluoridation not only saves money, but also helps avoid pain and suffering.
Tom Curran
Elmira, N.Y.


Never the twain shall meet.

USA - Another Push to Add Fluoride to Public Drinking Water

Another Push to Add Fluoride to Public Drinking Water
Assembly panel clears bill that once again pits dentists against water companies, environmentalists
Convincing a majority of lawmakers of the benefits of requiring fluoride in New Jersey’s public water supply has been like pulling teeth for years in the New Jersey legislature.
The long-hoped for measure by dentists has consistently been opposed by environmentalists and water companies. But on Monday, the Assembly’s health committee took another shot at moving the bill.

“Hope springs eternal,” said Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington), a medical doctor and chairman of the heath committee, which cleared a bill similar to legislation that failed to make it through the last session.
Only 13 percent of New Jerseyans drink fluoridated water, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), placing New Jersey next to the bottom nationwide.
Dentists say access to the teeth-strengthening fluoride would drastically reduce cavities, especially in the New Jersey’s poorer cities. “We see an awful lot of dental disease in children,” said Dr. Nanci Tofsky, professor and interim chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School.
But the bill has its critics -- water companies and environmentalists who cite its impact on the environment, potentially harmful health effects, and the cost of installing fluoridation equipment for opposing the measure.
New Jersey has been talking about fluoridation “for the past 50 years,” said Arnold H. Rosenheck, assistant dean of the New Jersey Dental School.
“We’re going to keep plugging away because it’s too important to let it be,” Conaway said.

The Assembly health committee heard from both sides of the issue on Monday before clearing the bill for consideration by the full Assembly.

Dr. Paul Connett on fluoride Jan-25-2012 London ONTARIO

USA - HEALTH CARE: Saving children's teeth

HEALTH CARE: Saving children's teeth
At 12 months of age, most babies have six new teeth, all of which can look perfect. But look again just six months later, and many of those new baby teeth will already show signs of decay.

In fact, decay of baby — or primary — teeth, a condition called early childhood caries (ECC) disease, is the most common chronic childhood disease in the U.S.

Here in Washington state, nearly six of 10 children suffer from tooth decay by the third grade, a statistic higher than the national average.

Early tooth decay can have wide-ranging effects on a child’s life. ...

Fluoridated USA

Taking Care of Young Teeth

Taking Care of Young Teeth
MISSION, KS, Jan 26, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- (Family Features) Healthy teeth and a healthy mouth give children more than just a beautiful smile. A healthy mouth supports overall health, and it can help children perform better in school. But far too many children have preventable oral health problems far too young.

Tooth decay affects more than 25 percent of American children 2 to 5 years old, and half of children 12 to 15 years old -- that's more than any other chronic infectious disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Left untreated, tooth decay causes pain and infection, which can lead to problems in eating, speaking, playing, and even learning.....

Fluoridated USA

Modern science indicates that fluoridation is ineffective

nyscof posted at 12:46 am on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.
Modern science indicates that fluoridation is ineffective at reducing tooth decay, harmful to health and a waste of money. Fluoridation opposition is scientific, respectable and growing

More than 4,000 professionals (including 331 dentists and 443 MD’s) urge that fluoridation be stopped citing scientific evidence that ingesting fluoride is ineffective at reducing tooth decay and has serious health risks. See statement: http://www.fluoridealert.org/professionals-statement.aspx

Eleven US EPA unions representing over 7000 environmental and public health professionals are calling for a moratorium on fluoridation.

The CDC reports that 225 less communities adjusted for fluoride between 2006 and 2008. About 100 US and Canadian communities rejected fluoridation since 2008.

UK - Daily Echo - Fluoride case should go to court of human rights

Fluoride case should go to court of human rights
COULD the SHA or Southern Water tell us from whose factory chimneys will the poison fluoride be coming from, as we have little in the way of manufacturing now and very few chimneys in this part of the world?
Is it going to be imported from other countries such as China, which is awash with chimneys, and whose population, if living in those areas, have to wear masks when outside?
Where has it been dumped before now, and what happens if it cannot be placed in our drinking water?
Finally, has Hampshire Against Fluoride had any thoughts about taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights? There are I'm sure many of us who would back them and contribute to any cost this incurred.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED.

Fluoride Toxicity with Heather Gingerich, pt 2 of 2

Pam Killeen on fluoride Jan-25-2012 London ONTARIO

Good presentation

Bacteria key player in dental problems

Bacteria key player in dental problems
Dear Dr. Reitz: I am 30 years old and never needed a filling. Have scientific
discoveries eliminated cavities or am I just lucky. - June of Reading
Dear June: The addition of fluoride to water and toothpaste has hardened teeth, making them more resistant to the acids produced by oral bacteria, but it has not eliminated tooth decay.In my dental practice I have patients that have never had a cavity and others with multiple areas of decay. Cavities usually are blamed on eating candy, but candy is only one part of the problem. The chance of getting tooth decay islikely related to the amount of a specific bacteria - Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) - present in the mouth.

The mouth is home to thousands of different bacteria. It has been known for many years that S mutans is the bacteria most responsible for tooth decay, finding a method of eliminating it has been the problem. Most methods of killing oral bacteria only work for a short time, plus having some beneficial bacteria is important to prevent overgrowth of yeast. New research from the UCLA School of Dentistry may have found a method of selectively removing S mutans.

Research conduced by oral biologist Dr. Wenyuan Shi of UCLA with support of Colgate Palmolive has produced a mouthwash that selectively targets S mutans using antimicrobial peptides. You may remember I wrote in a previous column about Dr. Shi's licorice root extract lollipops that target and disable the bacteria responsible for tooth decay.Well, he's at it again, this time creating an antimicrobial mouthwash.

The mouthwash contains antimicrobial peptides that eliminate only the harmful S mutans. Twelve patients who rinsed just one time with the experimental mouthwash experienced a nearly complete elimination of the S. mutans bacteria over a four-day testing period. Based on the success of this clinical trial Dr. Shi's company has filed a drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to begin more extensive clinical trials in March. If the FDA approves this new antimicrobial peptide it will be the first anti-dental decay drug since fluoride was licensed nearly 60 years ago.

The new concept of using targeted antimicrobial peptides may do more than just eliminate tooth decay. This work may be the beginning for developing additional target-specific antimicrobials to combat other diseases.

You have been fortunate to escape tooth decay, targeted antimicrobial peptides may soon eliminate tooth decay for those not as lucky.

Fluoridated Water and Fluoride Tablets?

Fluoride Toxicity with Heather Gingerich

Fluoride Spill in Illinois

Australia - The Bligh years: a government prepares to be judged Daniel Hurst

Anna Bligh will face the electorate in March.

The Bligh years: a government prepares to be judged Daniel Hurst
January 28, 2012.
Fluoride, economic upheaval, cost complaints, disaster and triumph – Anna Bligh's 4½ years as Queensland premier has had its ups and downs.
Ms Bligh – who admits she faces the fight of her political life to fend off the resurgent Liberal National Party at the looming March 24 election – was long groomed to take over the premiership by her predecessor, Peter Beattie.
When she did finally take over the top job in September 2007, Ms Bligh was left with several pieces of unfinished business from the Beattie era. These included having to bed down the controversial council amalgamations, finish building the water grid conceived at the height of the drought (thereby pushing up household water prices), and tackle persistent problems with Queensland Health.
But Ms Bligh, Queensland's first female premier, also quickly sought to differentiate herself from her mentor. It came in the form of fluoride. While Mr Beattie had offered rebates to councils that chose to fluoridate their waters supplies, Ms Bligh went the whole hog and decided to do it herself.
Her December 2007 decision, touted as a crucial step to improving children's oral health, would see 80 per cent of Queenslanders drinking fluoridated water within two years and 90 per cent by 2012......

Canada - Fluoride debate rages on

Photo by Mike Maloney/London Community News
Paul Connett lets his frustrations show towards the continued use of fluoride in drinking water.

Fluoride debate rages on
By Sean Meyer/London Community News
Fluoridation of the city’s water supply is either a safe and inexpensive technique to improve people’s health or is an insulting way of eliminating personal freedom of choice.

Despite hours of “he said, she said” conversations, those were the two fundamental issues that came forward during a Civic Works Committee meeting at Centennial Hall that began on Wednesday evening (Jan. 25) and ran into the arly hours of Thursday morning.

An audience of more than 250 people turned out to listen to presentations from doctors, dentists, activists and ordinary citizens passionately supportive of their given side of the debate. Of that crowd, approximately three-quarters of those speaking were calling for an end to fluoridation, which started in London in 1967.

Ultimately, a meeting that wrapped up at almost 1 a.m. saw the committee vote to have staff pour over the details of the nearly six-hour meeting with the intention of bringing back a report in six weeks. Staff indicated it would be difficult to have a report ready for the committee’s next meeting, but felt comfortable with the one after that............

USA - Cost and safety of fluoride questioned

Cost and safety of fluoride questioned
Friday, January 27, 2012
Kathryn Lucariello
......Office manager Jim Allison said employees are also concerned about safety, both for themselves having to handle the fluoride and for the public. Water operators are required to operate under NSF/ANSI Standard 60, which addresses the health effects of water treatment chemicals and additives.

NSF 60 requires full disclosure of each chemical added to water and a toxicology review.

In the case of industrial fluoride, it's not the fluoride itself, but what else might be in it, Allison said.
"The district has written forty-nine letters and had no answers from manufacturers or the Health Department. All fluoride products have contaminants. We need to know what we're putting in the water because consumers will ask.

"We're at a quandary out here. Do we follow NSF 60? It's not pharmaceutical grade, so there are contaminants."

"I don't know if we have the ability to enforce the manufacturers to reveal what's in it," said James Yates, board president. "We also want to worry about whether we have the proper safety handling procedures for our employees, to have a very safe environment for them." ..............

Why You Need to Personally Treat Your Own Water

NaturalSociety
January 25, 2012
Mike Barrett

Why You Need to Personally Treat Your Own Water
Why do we need to worry about the water we are consuming each and every day? When referring to a group of people or someone acting different, the phrase “it must be in the water” is often used as a response. While this phrase is always used comically, you need to know that many of your health problems may indeed be result of what is in the water you are consuming every day.
Why You Absolutely Must Personally Treat Your Own Water
Many people are unaware of the vast amount of chemicals lurking in nearly all public water supplies. If you are using tap water to cook your food, or drinking it straight from the faucet, then you are exposing yourself to these substances. One of the most commonly noted, controversial substances in the water supply is fluoride.

It was only a few years ago that if you labeled fluoride as a dangerous substance, you would be laughed at and scorned. For years, a select minority of individuals were the only ones raising the awareness of this health concern. Their cries have been and continue to be met with dissonance, despite the fact that the public’s opinion on fluoride has changed much in just a short time. In fact, even the United States government has called for lower levels of water fluoridation following a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, which found that increased fluoride consumption led to decreased IQ in children.
Fluoride is not the only thing in your water. Cocaine, various hormones birth control, pharmaceuticals, and other toxic pollutants are often found in the drinking water across the United States.

Other pollutants typically found in the drinking water:
Lead, which can enter the water supply through corrosive pipes or improper water treatment
Pathogens that cause disease and are especially crippling to those with weakened immune systems
By-products of chlorine treatment such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, which have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems
Arsenic, which may cause cancer, serious skin problems, birth defects and reproductive problems
Radon, a carcinogen linked to lung cancer

Hopefully UK water may not be as bad.
Nice to be known as one of a select minority of individuals instead of the usual insulting terms used by those promoting fluoride

Ireland - High time to flush the fluoride from our water

High time to flush the fluoride from our water
Wednesday January 25 2012
Dear Minister (CC: Editor, Drogheda Independent)
Reading through the report on water quality last week told me nothing new about our water system here in Ireland - the leaks, the amount of monies spent just to keep it going, the things people can do to conserve water in this country. It all makes for a fascinating read but it fails to mention one critical thing minister: how much do we spend on poisoning ourselves every year with fluoride?
We are one of if not the last country in the EU to stop this practice, even north of the border you can get clean drinking water. This has to stop minister ASAP.
Not only would it save people's health, it would save the exchequer money.
I myself have to travel anything up to 30km a week to get fresh drinking water and if I'm not able to do this we have to buy bottled water in our local shop because the water in the mains is not fit for human consumption. Indeed, this poison is leaking into every river and lake in Ireland.
The facts are proven about fluoride, all the studies have been done all over the world minister. The facts are too long here to lay down but if at any time you would like them I'd be only too happy to furnish you with them.
So. in closing minister, why, oh why on this green land of ours would you expect me or the tens of thousands like me pay for a poisoned water supply. It's just not going to happen.

Yours, Martin Farrell,
Drogheda.

Canada - Fluoride debate a big draw

Fluoride debate a big draw
PUBLIC HEALTH
By Free Press Staff
Last Updated: January 25, 2012 8:05am
Nearly 50 people are slated to speak Wednesday night during what promises to be a marathon public-input session on the use of fluoride in London drinking water.
Council’s civic works committee will begin hearing opinions on the increasingly high-profile issue at 7 p.m. at the meeting, moved to Centennial Hall to make room for the expected crowds.
Public-health officials have expressed their support for continuing the use of fluoride, which proponents call a low-cost way to prevent tooth decay.
Critics, though, believe there are a slew of health effects related to the chemical, which has been added to London tap water since 1967.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit last year backed continued fluoride use. The issue was then brought to city council, which voted to hold the public meeting.
Coun. Stephen Orser, who says he’s recently become convinced fluoride should be removed, says that given Wednesday’s meeting structure — each person is allotted five minutes to speak — he expects it to last well past midnight.
Water fluoridation has prompted significant opposition in several Canadian cities. Waterloo, for example, has stopped adding fluoride after a slim majority of residents voted for its elimination in a 2010 referendum.

FLUORIDE: WHAT Is It & WHY It's In Our Water

UK - SOUTHAMPTON: Party leaders vow to stand firm

SOUTHAMPTON: Party leaders vow to stand firm
Fluoride 'bribe won't sway us
By Jon Reeve
jon.reeve@dailyecho.co.uk
SOUTHAMPTON'S political leaders have vowed not to be "bribed" into supporting fluoridation.
The leaders of all three main parties on the city council last night said that they would not back adding the controversial chemical to the tap water of 200,000 homes in a bid to gain extra cash from the Government.
Their pledges came after Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said that councils would be in line for bonuses if they improve measures such as dental health once they are handed powers taken from soon-to-be-axed health authorities.
Fears have been raised that the "health premium" incentive could make it more likely that councils will adopt practices such as fluoridation.
Stephen Peckham, chairman of campaign group Hampshire Against Fluoridation, said he believed that the move to hand local authorities public health responsibilities for the first time since the 1970s was a positive step.
However he added: "I am concerned that there will be a pressure on councils to use the money for fluoridation, but what I hope is that local authorities will be much more focused on dealing with the problem of tooth decay through developing community-based approaches which have been proven to work in other areas. "I would hope that councils would use the opportunity to do something that is effective, and although we should never underestimate those pushing for fluoridation, I think it is about time that the role is taken away from the dentists."
Southampton's council group leaders all said that they would not be looking to introduce fluoridation if it is not already in place by the time South Central Strategic Health Authority is disbanded in spring 2013......................

Dr. Dean Burk Fluoride causes cancer

Australia - Bourke Shire accused of illegally dumping fluoride

Bourke Shire accused of illegally dumping fluoride
By Robyn Herron
Posted January 23, 2012 12:08:10
The Bourke Shire Council has been accused of illegally dumping chemicals at its waste depot plant.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has charged the council with unlawfully transporting and disposing the chemical in October 2010.
The council says the fluoride was in its original packaging and shrink wrapped in plastic when it was buried four metres deep at the landfill.
The Bourke Shire's general manager, Geoff Wise, says the council had more of the chemical than it needed and did not realise that it was not permitted to dump the waste at the depot.
He says the sodium fluoride has since been removed.
The council will plead guilty to the charges and the matter has been adjourned in the Bourke Local Court until next month.
A EPA spokeswoman says the action is being taken as the council breached the Protection of the Environment Operations Act.
She says the depot cannot be lawfully used as a waste facility for sodium fluoride, which is classified as hazardous and dangerous.
The council faces a maximum penalty of $22,000.
Sodium fluoride is added to urban water supplies to improve people's dental health.

USA - Question fluoride safety

Question fluoride safety
To the editor:
I have recently read two Open Forum letters stating that fluoride in our water system was important and the amount of fluoride in our drinking water was safe. Why is fluoride in our drinking system in the first place? The pat answer is, of course, to prevent tooth decay. This answer has been debunked for years. Just to name one source, "The Fluoride Deception" by Christopher Bryson will convince you otherwise. In his book, Mr. Bryson states: "In a society where asbestos, lead, silica, beryllium and many other carcinogens have found their way into the marketplace and then been recalled, one has to wonder why fluoride, so toxic it is used as a rat poison and pesticide, is embraced so thoroughly and so blindly." Because of limited space, I would add more sources but they would fill a phonebook.
The real reason for fluoride is, you guessed it, profit.
The government adds fluoride to drinking water supplies insisting that it is safe, beneficial and necessary. However, scientific evidence shows that fluoride is not safe to ingest and areas that fluoridate their drinking water supplies have higher rates of cavities, cancer, dental fluorosis, osteoporosis and other health problems. Because fluoride is a toxic waste from the aluminum industry, pharmaceutical companies and weapons manufacturers, it was expensive to dispose of properly. Solution: Add it to the water supply.

Fluoride continues to be added to water supplies all over North America. There is a growing resistance against adding toxic fluoride to our water supplies, but unfortunately, because fluoride has become "the lifeblood of the modern industrial economy. There is too much money at stake for those who endorse water fluoridation. The lies of the benefits of water fluoridation will continue to be fed to the public, not to encourage health benefits to a large number of people, but to profit the military-industrial complex.

The FDA, the guardians of our health who have given us such safety information as GMO's, aspartame and thimerosal as being safe for our health, do you really trust their judgment on fluoride?

Larry Wallace
Loveland

UK - Public health improvement plan given £2bn funding

Public health improvement plan given £2bn funding
Local authorities to get cash to promote breastfeeding and action on tooth decay
The Guardian, Monday 23 January 2012 Article history
Action to combat tooth decay will be funded under the 'health premium' incentive scheme. Photograph: Alamy
Councils will be able to get extra funding to encourage breast-feeding and combat child tooth decay as part of a government plan for local authorities to take a greater role in improving public health.

In a public health framework to be outlined on Monday by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, local authorities will be alloted more than £2bn for the role. Councils that get the best results across 60 factors influencing health will be awarded extra funds under a so-called "health premium" incentive scheme.

Along with breast-feeding and tooth decay, they will be expected to tackle homelessness and the number of young people in the criminal justice system. A figure of £5.2bn will be spent on public health next year while the budget will increase in real terms each year after that, Lansley will say in a speech in London to the Faculty of Public Health.

"We all want to be healthy. No one wants an unhealthy existence," he will say. "And the job of the government – and my responsibility – is to help people live healthier lives. A failure to recognise that meant 2000-2010 was a decade in which public health was seen as relatively unimportant, something to be sidelined.

"Obesity rates from 2000-2010 rose from 21.2% to 26.1% so now over a quarter of adults are obese. Sexually transmitted infections, after the steep declines in the 80s to 90s, doubled in the subsequent decade.

"And health inequalities persist, with gaps in life expectancy of over a decade between people born in the richest areas and people born in the poorest."

Alternative Healing with Dr. Edward F. Group 1/2

Opposition to Water Fluoridation (London, Ontario)

UK - Blackburn dentist surgery named the best in the North West

Blackburn dentist surgery named the best in the North West
Friday 20th January 2012 in
By Neil Docking »
A DENTIST is celebrating a step forward for tooth care in East Lancashire after his surgery was named the best in the North West.
East Lancashire is known to have some of the worst dental health in the UK, with exceptionally high rates of tooth decay......


How many more places have the worst dental health are there?

USA - re Statistics Show Fluoridation Fails New York State

More Statistics Show Fluoridation Fails New York State
NYS Department of Health statistics reveal that, even when water is fluoridated, cavity-rates are extremely high in low-income third-graders. (2) For example:
85% of low-income third graders have tooth decay in Wayne County (74% fluoridated)
83% in Ontario County (61% fluoridated)
82% in Cayuga County (not fluoridated)
82% in Allegheny County (14% fluoridated)
81% in Livingston County (55% fluoridated)
67% in Schuyler County (not fluoridated)
58% in Nassau County (not fluoridated)
Fluoridation not only fails New York State but nationally children, the elderly and poor lack dental care. The General Accounting Office estimates that 6.5 million children aged 2 through 18 in Medicaid had untreated tooth decay in 2005. (3)
Oral health complications may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Annually, 164 million work hours and 51 million school hours are lost due to dental problems, according to the Institute of Medicine. (4) Also, a 2008 study of the armed forces reveals 52% of new recruits had oral health problems needing urgent attention, reports the Pew Charitable Trust.
"The American economy is hurt by dentists' refusal to treat low-income Americans and by organized dentistry's lobbying to outlaw cheaper dental care by viable dental professionals, such as dental therapists," says attorney Paul Beeber, NYSCOF President. "Fluoridation is a false concept that must be abandoned."

USA - Rethink fluoride in Florida’s water

Rethink fluoride in Florida’s water
By Our Stance
Updated: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 21:01
Adding fluoride to tap water has been a contentious public health practice in the United States since it began in the 1940s. Although it is hailed by governments, dentists and physicians as an affordable treatment against cavities, health activists argue water fluoridation is doing more harm than good.

Back in October, Pinellas County commissioners sided against groups like the American Dental Association by voting to remove fluoride added to the county's water supply. Despite derision from some medical professionals, the decision should ultimately be praised for giving power back to the people, allowing individuals the choice concerning their medical treatment.

After all, fluoride is the only medication that is forced on the public via tap water. This presents the problem of dosing control because fluoride exposure is related to how much water a person ingests. Infants and children are particularly at risk for getting too much – about 40 percent of adolescents in the U.S. have dental fluorosis, white spots that appear on the teeth from too much fluoride, according to USA Today.

The possible health risks associated with fluoride should be enough for public officials across Florida to reconsider adding it to everyone's daily intake. A study published just this month in Nuclear Medicine Communications reveals a scary link between vascular fluoride uptake and cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.

Scientific American reported in 2008 that "recent studies suggest that over-consumption of fluoride can raise the risks of disorders affecting teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland." Overexposure to fluoride, the most consumed drug in the U.S., may even affect intelligence among children, according to a peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

A Harvard School of Dental Health study also indicated "that boys exposed to fluoride between the ages of 5 and 10 will suffer an increased rate of osteosarcoma," a type of dangerous bone cancer, according to The Guardian.

These risks simply aren't worth the benefit fluoride has in preventing cavities, and medicating the public with a substance that is proven hazardous is not a proper solution to provide affordable dental healthcare.

Products like toothpaste and mouthwash can easily be used as topical forms of fluoride treatment for healthy teeth. Since these treatments are not ingested, they do not pose the systemic risks that may come from ingesting too much fluoride.

Besides, for the second year in a row, Florida earned an "F" for children's dental care from the Pew Center on the States, according to The Gainseville Sun. This is despite widespread water fluoridation in our state.

It wasn't until 2004 that Orange County joined the water-fluoridation bandwagon. It is not too late to consider ditching the practice and replacing it with better access to dental care for Floridians.

Uk - Daily Echo letters

Fluoridation really is a toxic medication for the masses
AK Roberts would have done well to reconsider the definition of a medicine before dismissing opponents of fluoridation.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) defines a medicine as "any substance or combination of substances as having properties for treating or PREVENTING disease in humans."
The toxic fluorosilicate chemicals added to public drinking water to prevent dental disease clearly fulfill that definition, and water fluoridation is therefore mass medication.
If Mr Roberts is so concerned about fairness, he could make a more positive contribution by considering the virtues of targeted ways of delivering fluoride to those who want it instead of defending an outdated and scientifically discredited practice with known health risks that is forced on entire communities.
In medical ethics, "no" means "no"; no A-level chemistry or medical qualification is required and no reason need be given to refuse medication or treatment. If Mr Roberts has so much faith in the SHA, presumably he would also be happy to trust the medical "experts" who are calling for lithium and statins to be added to our water supply in the guise of a public health measure?
Other countries in Europe do not fluoridate or chlorinate their water for good reason; neither is safe or effective, and the health effects of the chemical mix are unknown. France and Germany for example use ozone to purify their water, as it is a cheaper, much safer alternative to poisonous chlorine, known since the 1960s to be the basic cause of colon cancer, arteriosclerosis, heart attacks and strokes (Dr Joseph Price).
We should not be forced to accept the decision of the SHA when we have so much evidence they are wrong. I prefer to place my trust in the research of eminent EPA scientists Dr William Hirzy and Dr Robert Carton, who concluded the only safe level of fluoride, particularly for babies, is ZERO.
CAROL SCARBOROUGH, Southampton.

Adding fluoride goes against human rights
FLUORIDE is still to be controversially added to our water.
Whether it is right or wrong is not the issue, we have basic human rights that say we do not have to have anything forced into our bodies without our consent.
We cannot turn the clock back to the days when the powers that be did what they liked with our lives. We have a voice now and opinions which should be taken into account when they
make these BIG decisions.
I, like thousands of other people in the area, have a chronic blood condition. Can they assure me and all the others like me with many other conditions that this is not going to exacerbate our conditions?
We do not need to be told what to do by someone who does not even live in our area.
Let them vote to have it in their area.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED.

New petition PM for fluoride debate
I RECENTLY wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Cameron, questioning his Big Society and "We are all in it together" statement. I made reference to our Echo's Great Fluoride Debate and sent him my last letter, which was published by the Echo, opposing the introduction of fluoride chemical into Hampshire's water supply.
I asked if he would please write to the Echo's Letterbox and explain why he has completely ignored the 10,000 signature petition handed in to No 10 by the Hampshire Against Fluoride leaders on behalf of our citizens, bearing in mind our concern that we don't appear to be a part of his Big Society and also that the 72 per cent of anti-fluoride protesters would welcome his views on the subject.
I received an official reply on behalf of Mr C thanking me for my time and trouble, from a grateful Prime Minister who requested my letter be forwarded to the Dept of Health so they are aware of my views.
However, not to be bettered, I am now 72 per cent convinced that action speaks louder than words.
Gordon Brown and Mr Cameron once said "Let the people decide." Seventy-two per cent of our citizens have decided "No to fluoride."
Those who wish to bury then-heads in the sand must pay the price for their indifference. Moving the goalposts, thus allowing the SHA time to complete their obnoxious task, is no credit to our Prime Minister. The SHA are to be disbanded at the end of the year, they cannot be brought to task should illness in years to come be attributed to their mass medication of the people.
Democracy itself has become the first victim. Our country is certainly on the decline when we no longer have a say in what is best for our children and ourselves. Mass medication is criminal and obscene. Fluoride is a poison and should not be added to our water supply.
Sugar is one of the major factors in tooth decay. Children will always drink fizzy drinks and eat sweets.
The health authority and Government are responsible for not addressing the problem at source. Cigarettes and alcohol receive more warnings on their packaging. Why not "This drink will rot your teeth"?
So where dp we go from here? I believe Nikki Sinclaire, MEP, has the answer. Her 120,000-signature petition forced the Government to debate a referendum on Europe. Our anti-fluoride campaign can also force a Government debate.
Our only option is to make sure David Cameron is totally aware that Southampton citizens will not be forced into drinking fluoridated water.
Please send your letters to: David Cameron, 10 Downing Street, SW1A 2AA. No to fluoride. All 100,000 to force a debate.
A WILLOTT, Southampton.