Port Orange fluoride debate has some grinding teeth

PORT ORANGE WORKSHOP
Port Orange fluoride debate has some grinding teeth

Anti-fluoridation advocate applauded; dentists concerned

Paul Connett addresses the Port Orange City Council about the hazards of fluoride in drinking water during a Tuesday night workshop. News-Journal/NIGEL COOK

By Casmira Harrison
casmira.harrison@news-jrnl.com

PORT ORANGE — City officials asked to hear from an anti-fluoridation voice. Tuesday night, they got their wish.

Paul Connett, Ph.D., former director of the Fluoride Action Network and lead author of "The Case Against Fluoride" addressed the City Council at a nearly full workshop.

Connett said that poor education and hygiene, poor diet and too much sugar were the biggest causes of dental issues in America and that fluoridating the water was not the cure-all. He talked about a program in Scotland called Child Smile that focuses on education of parents and children through the school system.

"We should never use the public water supply as a delivery system," Connett said. "Once you put it in the system, you can't control the dose or who receives it."

Much of the audience at the meeting, judging from the applause for Connett, and others who spoke against the city's fluoridation process, seemed to be in support of ending the process....