Canada - Fluoride Debate Continues

Fluoride Debate Continues
By 250 News
Monday, September 07, 2009 09:58 AM
Prince George, B.C.- When it comes to fluoride, Dr. Bill Osmunson, a public health dentist from the United States says there is too much available from other sources and some people are dying from it.
That’s the basis of his battle to have fluoride removed from drinking water supplies.
Speaking on the Meisner Program on 93.1 CFISFM this morning, Osmunson says the folks at Northern Health, while well meaning, are “simply parroting the information from other sources”.
“Fluoride is a drug, and the health people have constantly said oh no, it’s just an adjustment of the natural presence of fluoride” he says that’s bogus.
Osmunson says fluoride is a drug, and the water supply “pump house” is not like getting a drug from your physician where the patient is under the watch of a physician, “Prince George is the biggest drug pusher in the community, because they aren’t giving people the freedom of choice of their drugs.”
He notes the City has reduced the amount of fluoride from 1ppm to .7 ppm, making it about the same as one would find in a pea-sized dab of toothpaste. “If my toothpaste tube says I should call poison control if I ingest more than a pea sized dab of toothpaste, why shouldn’t someone be calling poison control if they drink a glass of Prince George water?”
Dr. Osmunson says fluoride has been linked to reduced I.Q., arthritis, fractures and a number of other health issues. He says since Fluoride is available from so many other sources, there is no need to have it in our water “We are simply getting too much fluoride, so where should we cut down on it? We should cut down where it is showing no benefit.”
He says he supported the idea of fluoridated water for many years, but there was a point where he changed his mind. He says 99% of European countries have stopped fluoridation. He says even though most communities in B.C. do not have fluoridated water, however, B.C. has the lowest rate of tooth decay among the provinces.
On the other side of the coin, local Dentist, Dr. Suzanne Rozon says fluoride has been in use for 60 “There has been no research to link Fluoride with any disease.” She says the fluoridation of water is approved by a number of health organizations, including the World Health Organization “If there was anything that would indicate there was a danger to health, it wouldn’t be there.”
“It is like vaccination” says Dr. Rozon, “ 99% would take the shot, and some will say no, I don’t want it. Those who oppose fluoridation could argue that not everyone wants to have it.”
Dr. Rozon says there is reason children shouldn’t swallow great amounts of toothpaste “We don’t want kids to swallow toothpaste because if they swallow a lot, it could cause that mottling look on the teeth, it is not toxic, it is a cosmetic issue.”
Dr. Rozon says in countries where fluoridation is not allowed in the water, those same countries have school programs where there is topical fluoridation. “That is more a response to government imposed fluoridation. It is not that they are opposed to fluoride, they just changed the delivery system.”
“If you are Prince George citizen drinking the water, you don’t have to worry about it, it is very safe.”
Over the summer, the City of Ft. St. John voted to remove fluoride from its water source.