USA - Opponents, Parents Ask Tough Questions About Fluoride
ATLANTA -- For more than 60 years, fluoride has been added to our drinking water to help prevent cavities. But recent studies suggest that some children are ingesting too much, and it's causing permanent stains on their teeth.
The government is now considering whether to lower the recommended limit on fluoride in the water, but some opponents say that's not enough. They claim fluoridation at any level just doesn't make sense.
Last spring, CBS Atlanta introduced you to Daniel Stockin, a health advocate for an organization called The Lillie Center.
"Ingesting fluorides is like driving a Mack truck through a rose garden," Stockin said.
For more than a year, The Lillie Center has been educating people in Metro Atlanta about the potential dangers of fluoride. Stockin isn't the only one who's worried.
Soon after our story aired last February, CBS Atlanta received an email from Suzanne Turner, a mother of two in Woodstock. It read, "Why in the world is this toxic substance in our water supply?!"
"It caught my attention, and I started doing some research over the Internet and I was surprised at what I found," Turner said.
Ingesting too much fluoride as a child can lead to dental fluorosis, which is characterized by permanent staining or pitting of the teeth.
"A lot of folks think it's just, 'Oh, I've got bad hygiene, I've got cavities,' and they have no idea that these stains and these pits are actually caused by the fluorides they've ingested," Stockin said.
The problem, said Stockin, is that fluoride is nearly impossible to avoid. "When we started to fluoridate 50 plus years ago, water was the only source for the fluoride."
Now, it's everywhere. "In many beverages; it's in food; it's in toothpaste; it's in many pharmaceuticals," Turner said.
And according to Stockin, dental fluorosis may be the least of our worries.
"If fluorides do this to teeth, which are the hardest surfaces in your body, what do we think that they're doing to our soft tissues," he asked.
Turner's research on fluoride unearthed some frightening results. "Osteocarcoma, possible neurological effects, lower IQ in children," were just some of the potential dangers she found online.
Some experts believe fluoride may also harm our kidneys, bones and thyroid glands.
But Dr. Richard A. Smith, spokesperson for the Georgia Dental Association, disagrees. "I've never seen any research that showed that there was significant changes in the body," he said.
He hasn't documented many cases of dental fluorosis, either. "I've been in practice for 36 years and I have never seen a major case of dental fluorosis," he said.
But recent CDC data suggests otherwise, stating two out of every five children have spots on their teeth from ingesting too much fluoride. That statistic now has the government rethinking how much should be added to our drinking water.
Still, Smith has no doubt that water fluoridation is a safe and effective way to prevent cavities, and he has more than 60 years of science on his side.
"The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Dental Association ... I can go on and on with the organizations and the people who we trust and we know do very strict science, are telling us that fluoride is here to stay," Smith said.
But the Turners aren't taking any chances. They try to avoid fluoride by filtering their water and brushing with fluoride-free toothpaste.
"If my children are drinking it, my husband's drinking it, our animals are drinking it -- I'm going to err on the side of caution," she said.
And Stockin said he won't give up until fluoride is altogether removed from our drinking water.
"You've got people drinking an unmonitored, uncontrolled dosing of a substance that accumulates in your body over a lifetime -- common sense tells you that this doesn't really make an awful lot of sense," he said.
Meantime, the National Research Council has suggested that some groups be extra careful to limit fluoride intake, especially diabetics, kidney patients and seniors. And the American Dental Association has said parents should not mix baby formula with fluoridated water.
The government is now considering whether to lower the recommended limit on fluoride in the water, but some opponents say that's not enough. They claim fluoridation at any level just doesn't make sense.
Last spring, CBS Atlanta introduced you to Daniel Stockin, a health advocate for an organization called The Lillie Center.
"Ingesting fluorides is like driving a Mack truck through a rose garden," Stockin said.
For more than a year, The Lillie Center has been educating people in Metro Atlanta about the potential dangers of fluoride. Stockin isn't the only one who's worried.
Soon after our story aired last February, CBS Atlanta received an email from Suzanne Turner, a mother of two in Woodstock. It read, "Why in the world is this toxic substance in our water supply?!"
"It caught my attention, and I started doing some research over the Internet and I was surprised at what I found," Turner said.
Ingesting too much fluoride as a child can lead to dental fluorosis, which is characterized by permanent staining or pitting of the teeth.
"A lot of folks think it's just, 'Oh, I've got bad hygiene, I've got cavities,' and they have no idea that these stains and these pits are actually caused by the fluorides they've ingested," Stockin said.
The problem, said Stockin, is that fluoride is nearly impossible to avoid. "When we started to fluoridate 50 plus years ago, water was the only source for the fluoride."
Now, it's everywhere. "In many beverages; it's in food; it's in toothpaste; it's in many pharmaceuticals," Turner said.
And according to Stockin, dental fluorosis may be the least of our worries.
"If fluorides do this to teeth, which are the hardest surfaces in your body, what do we think that they're doing to our soft tissues," he asked.
Turner's research on fluoride unearthed some frightening results. "Osteocarcoma, possible neurological effects, lower IQ in children," were just some of the potential dangers she found online.
Some experts believe fluoride may also harm our kidneys, bones and thyroid glands.
But Dr. Richard A. Smith, spokesperson for the Georgia Dental Association, disagrees. "I've never seen any research that showed that there was significant changes in the body," he said.
He hasn't documented many cases of dental fluorosis, either. "I've been in practice for 36 years and I have never seen a major case of dental fluorosis," he said.
But recent CDC data suggests otherwise, stating two out of every five children have spots on their teeth from ingesting too much fluoride. That statistic now has the government rethinking how much should be added to our drinking water.
Still, Smith has no doubt that water fluoridation is a safe and effective way to prevent cavities, and he has more than 60 years of science on his side.
"The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Dental Association ... I can go on and on with the organizations and the people who we trust and we know do very strict science, are telling us that fluoride is here to stay," Smith said.
But the Turners aren't taking any chances. They try to avoid fluoride by filtering their water and brushing with fluoride-free toothpaste.
"If my children are drinking it, my husband's drinking it, our animals are drinking it -- I'm going to err on the side of caution," she said.
And Stockin said he won't give up until fluoride is altogether removed from our drinking water.
"You've got people drinking an unmonitored, uncontrolled dosing of a substance that accumulates in your body over a lifetime -- common sense tells you that this doesn't really make an awful lot of sense," he said.
Meantime, the National Research Council has suggested that some groups be extra careful to limit fluoride intake, especially diabetics, kidney patients and seniors. And the American Dental Association has said parents should not mix baby formula with fluoridated water.
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