I'm a dentist and I oppose fluoride in our drinking water | Opinion

There continues to be a misunderstanding about fluoride being added to the public drinking water. As a practicing dentist of 41 years and one who has been on both sides of this debate, I feel qualified to share the facts. This issue has come before the Melbourne City Council twice, with a vote last week to continue to fluoridate drinking water.

Twenty-five years ago, when I was President of the Newport, Rhode Island. Dental Society, I was successful in having the town that I lived in fluoridated. There was resistance, particularly from a local chiropractor. We in organized dentistry considered him crazy, as we “knew” from our dental school training, the American Dental Association and the Food and Drug Administration, that it was of great benefit to reducing dental decay.

Opposing view: Removing fluoride from Melbourne water will leave customers vulnerable to tooth decay

I have gone on in my career taking extensive post doctoral training in biologic dentistry and have obtained the degree of a Naturopath, which searches for the root cause of disease. I now realize that the chiropractor was right.

The decision to fluoridate the public water should be based on science. The pro-fluoride position is based on poor science done 70 years ago. There has never been one study done on hydrofluorosilicic acid (HSA), which is the type of fluoride currently being added to our water. There is science to show that topical application of fluoride can have a benefit to reduce caries. This is accomplished with professional application of fluoride and use of products like toothpaste and some mouth rinses.

In the last six months, there were two peer-reviewed scientific articles, one in the prestigious JAMA Pediatrics journal of the American Medical Association, that showed drinking fluoridated water causes lower IQ in children. This has been proven in studies more than 50 times all around the world. There was also a 2018 article linking it to ADHD symptoms in 6-to-12-year-old children. In 2018, the Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry had an article titled “Fluoride Exposure in Early Life as the Possible Root Cause of Disease in Later Life”.

There is no argument that we should protect our children, particularly those less fortunate. The recent studies indicate that in our quest to do good, we may be hurting our children. Dental fluorosis, faint white lines or streaks on the teeth that occur when children consume too much fluoride, is prevalent in more than 50% of children. This is a concern in the self-esteem of our teens and more significant cases requires expensive dental treatment to correct. The European Pediatric dentists support fluoride only in toothpaste. Mothers using tap water to make infant formula are subjecting their babies to much higher doses of fluoride.

Science has always shown that fluoride is a toxin. There is no need for it in any human biological process. The hydrofluorosilicic acid put in the water is contaminated with other toxins, as its source is the phosphate fertilizer industry. How can we knowingly be adding arsenic and other toxins to the public water? If you still doubt the toxicity read the fine print on a tube of fluoridated toothpaste.

The FDA considers fluoride a medication. I agree with many of the fluoride opponents who are opposed to “mass medication." This is one of the reasons that 97% of Europe does not fluoridate its water. Those who want to have fluoride in their water can have a safe kind of fluoride prescribed by their dentist.

I no longer use fluoride in my practice. I have learned more natural ways to control the microbiome and oral environment to prevent caries. There is not much science to support water fluoridation but there is compelling research that shows that it has a significant impact on human and animal health. Fluoride is an active molecule that interferes with many systems: thyroid health (an epidemic), endocrine disruption, bone health, dental fluorosis of the teeth, hormone disruption, decreased IQ, ADHD — the list goes on. 

The potential harm from fluoride far outweighs the questionable benefit and we should discontinue adding it to the water, especially for our children. The Hippocratic Oath I took states "Do no harm." The toxin fluoride is harmful, please remove it from our water.

For more information on the science of why we should not add fluoride to our public water supply go www.fluoridealert.org.  

Dr. Chris Edwards established Smile Design and Wellness Center in Viera in 2003.