Fluoridation: A 75-year-old Blunder

NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seventy-five years ago, dentists convinced government officials to experiment on every Grand Rapids, Michigan, resident without individual informed-consent to prove that (not if) dosing the municipal water supply with untested sodium-fluoride chemicals would decay-proof children's developing teeth. Planned to last 15 years, the 1945 study ended prematurely after 6 ½ years.  Teeth of most children born into the experiment hadn't even erupted yet. Muskegon, the planned non-fluoridated comparison city began fluoridating its water in 1951; thereby, negating the experiment. And, cavities declined in both cities, reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF).

American Dental Association (ADA) news release says, "many communities did not wait for the studies to be completed before starting their own fluoridation efforts.  By 1950, [fluoridation] had the full support of the ADA." This support came without safety evidence.  

Grand Rapids citizens' health was untested. But Newburgh NY's healthy schoolchildren were examined in another 1945 human experiment, also cut short prematurely. Newburgh kids suffered more bone defects, anemia and earlier female menstruation after 10 years (Journal of the American Dental Association, 1956). These findings were dismissed.

In 1951, dentists strategized ("Proceedings 4th annual conference of state dental directors") on how to sell fluoridation using  misinformation and misdirection e.g. "We have told the public it works, so we can't go back on that." And "those research people, they can't get over their feeling that you have to have test tube and animal research before you start applying it to human beings."

Edward Bernays, the father of public relations, promoted fluoridation, consulting on strategy for the National Institute of Dental Research. "Selling fluoride was child's play," Bernays told the author of The Fluoride Deception. Bernays said citizens trust medical authority. Bernays convinced doctors who passed on their his fluoridation beliefs. Modern fluoridation PR flacks do the same.

Chemical & Engineering News reported: "Rational voices of opposition were suppressed from the start. Science justified those fears. Fluoride isn't a nutrient or required for healthy teeth and has serious side effects, rendering fluoridation unnecessary and harmful.

Attorney Paul Beeber, NYSCOF President says, "The ADA celebrates fluoridation, ignoring strong fluoride/brain links,100 years of damning fluoride/kidney & thyroid research and that cavity experience and inequities increased in the last 20 years despite widespread fluoridation contributing to US children's fluoride-damaged teeth (fluorosis)," says Beeber.   

More info:  http://FluorideAlert.org

Contact: Paul Beeber, JD, 516-433-8882 nyscof@aol.com    Twitter @nyscof     

SOURCE New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.