Canada - Nothing cut and dry with fluoride debate
nothing cut and dry with fluoride debate .Tuesday, 01 March 2011 02:01 Gauthier, Gerald .
Gerald Gauthier
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
ggauthier@lethbridgeherald.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
After hearing numerous scientific arguments Monday for and against water fluoridation, city council members now must decide which ones they believe.
Medical and dental professionals from both sides of the fluoridation fence presented their respective cases on the hazards and benefits of fluoridation when council met as Community Issues Committee. The session was held for council members to gather information on the issue, but it may not be long before they formally debate whether to end or continue fluoridation, which was introduced in 1974 following a civic plebiscite.
"We have no right to mass-medicate our neighbours," said Dr. Robert Dickson, a family physician from Calgary, who argued that even with low concentrations of fluoride, it's impossible to control dosages ingested by those who drink more tap water than others.
"I believe in fluoride except that we're using it totally wrong. We don't swallow our sunscreen, so why would we swallow fluoride?" he said. "We're over-medicating people with fluoride."
Along with Dickson, James Beck, a retired University of Calgary professor of medical biophysics, cited research which they claimed casts doubt on the safety and effectiveness of fluoridation in preventing tooth decay.
Public health heavyweights from the provincial and federal levels, however, presented evidence from other scientific studies which they said proved such conclusions by fluoride opponents are faulty.
Dr. Peter Cooney, Health Canada's chief dental officer, travelled from Ottawa to address council. He cited independent and departmental studies which indicate that as public water fluoridation became more widespread in the past four decades, tooth decay in Canadian children dropped 80 per cent.
Cooney said fluoridation is also helping adults and seniors keep their teeth longer.
"You're not just going to hurt kids if you take (fluoridation) away, you're going to hurt adults and seniors," he told council members.....
80% where did he get that figure from?
Gerald Gauthier
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
ggauthier@lethbridgeherald.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
After hearing numerous scientific arguments Monday for and against water fluoridation, city council members now must decide which ones they believe.
Medical and dental professionals from both sides of the fluoridation fence presented their respective cases on the hazards and benefits of fluoridation when council met as Community Issues Committee. The session was held for council members to gather information on the issue, but it may not be long before they formally debate whether to end or continue fluoridation, which was introduced in 1974 following a civic plebiscite.
"We have no right to mass-medicate our neighbours," said Dr. Robert Dickson, a family physician from Calgary, who argued that even with low concentrations of fluoride, it's impossible to control dosages ingested by those who drink more tap water than others.
"I believe in fluoride except that we're using it totally wrong. We don't swallow our sunscreen, so why would we swallow fluoride?" he said. "We're over-medicating people with fluoride."
Along with Dickson, James Beck, a retired University of Calgary professor of medical biophysics, cited research which they claimed casts doubt on the safety and effectiveness of fluoridation in preventing tooth decay.
Public health heavyweights from the provincial and federal levels, however, presented evidence from other scientific studies which they said proved such conclusions by fluoride opponents are faulty.
Dr. Peter Cooney, Health Canada's chief dental officer, travelled from Ottawa to address council. He cited independent and departmental studies which indicate that as public water fluoridation became more widespread in the past four decades, tooth decay in Canadian children dropped 80 per cent.
Cooney said fluoridation is also helping adults and seniors keep their teeth longer.
"You're not just going to hurt kids if you take (fluoridation) away, you're going to hurt adults and seniors," he told council members.....
80% where did he get that figure from?
posted by Bill at
9:48 AM
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