Water fluoridation: Is fluoride chemophobia?

Letter

British Dental Journal 222, 323 - 324 (2017)
Published online: 10 March 2017 | doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2017.198

Water fluoridation: Is fluoride chemophobia?

P. Connett¹

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Introduction

Sir, I do wish that when credentialed professionals make sweeping statements about the safety of water fluoridation that they demonstrated that they had actually read the key literature in question. For example, when Dr Reekie writes that there is 'overwhelming evidence that fluoride is safe'¹ he gives no indication that he has read the voluminous evidence (over 300 animal and human studies) that fluoride is neurotoxic – let alone cite an equally voluminous number of primary studies that allows him or anyone else to discount this finding with any confidence. The http://fluoridealert.org/ website contains a complete listing of the over 300 neurotoxicity studies.

While avid promoters of fluoridation might wish to dismiss such efforts as a result of chemophobia, it is actually based on reading the scientific literature. What some of us are really 'fearful' of, is dental professionals and government officials who feel it is more important to defend this practice rather than to protect the health of citizens from this toxic substance.

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Reference

1. Reekie D. Fear of fluoride. Br Dent J 2017; 222: 16–18. | Article | PubMed |

1. Retired professor of chemistry, Senior Adviser to the Fluoride Action Network