For and against
(A very long pro fluoride article, with added replies from our side. Click title to see full story)
October 31, 2005
Time and the Anti-Fluoride Cause
By Marvin Schissel, D.D.S.
In the words of Carl Sagan: "We've arranged a global civilization in which most critical elements depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster."
The combination of a scientifically unsophisticated public and the profusion of easily accessible crackpot information on the Internet is indeed a prescription for disaster. Bogus issues ignite the paranoia of some people searching for a "meaningful" cause, and the results can be medical disaster. (As an example, the groundless hysteria about mercury in vaccines may put us all at risk of epidemics: already diseases that had been long under control are beginning to resurface.)
And now another old quack cause is being recharged: the anti-fluoridation movement. An article in Time (Oct. 24) sympathetically describes this burgeoning new/old crusade and, by getting many things wrong, adds fuel to the fire.
Historically, anti-fluoride activists have claimed, with no evidence, that fluoridation causes everything from cancer to mental disease. It was even called a Communist plot to poison our wells -- until the Russians fluoridated their own water. Typical of quack tactics, when one phony claim was disproved they came up with another. Activists claim their activity is based on "research." But looking up blogs on Google is not research: the Internet is too often a source of hysteria and paranoia rather than sound science.
The facts are clear: fluoride, one of Earth's most abundant elements, is a mineral found naturally in many water supplies. Low dosages of ingested fluoride will cause developing teeth to greatly increase their resistance to decay. Fluoridation of community water supplies is the most extensively investigated public health measure in history. Entire populations have been studied, and there is not a shred of bona fide evidence that anyone has been harmed by proper fluoridation of community water supplies. Fluoridation is widely considered one of the century's great public health achievements. The American Dental Association lists 114 prominent national and international health organizations that support fluoridation.
October 31, 2005
Time and the Anti-Fluoride Cause
By Marvin Schissel, D.D.S.
In the words of Carl Sagan: "We've arranged a global civilization in which most critical elements depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster."
The combination of a scientifically unsophisticated public and the profusion of easily accessible crackpot information on the Internet is indeed a prescription for disaster. Bogus issues ignite the paranoia of some people searching for a "meaningful" cause, and the results can be medical disaster. (As an example, the groundless hysteria about mercury in vaccines may put us all at risk of epidemics: already diseases that had been long under control are beginning to resurface.)
And now another old quack cause is being recharged: the anti-fluoridation movement. An article in Time (Oct. 24) sympathetically describes this burgeoning new/old crusade and, by getting many things wrong, adds fuel to the fire.
Historically, anti-fluoride activists have claimed, with no evidence, that fluoridation causes everything from cancer to mental disease. It was even called a Communist plot to poison our wells -- until the Russians fluoridated their own water. Typical of quack tactics, when one phony claim was disproved they came up with another. Activists claim their activity is based on "research." But looking up blogs on Google is not research: the Internet is too often a source of hysteria and paranoia rather than sound science.
The facts are clear: fluoride, one of Earth's most abundant elements, is a mineral found naturally in many water supplies. Low dosages of ingested fluoride will cause developing teeth to greatly increase their resistance to decay. Fluoridation of community water supplies is the most extensively investigated public health measure in history. Entire populations have been studied, and there is not a shred of bona fide evidence that anyone has been harmed by proper fluoridation of community water supplies. Fluoridation is widely considered one of the century's great public health achievements. The American Dental Association lists 114 prominent national and international health organizations that support fluoridation.
posted by Bill at
9:41 AM
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