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UK Against Fluoridation

Sunday, August 31, 2008

George Orwell roll's in his grave!

NZ - Big bucks poured into fluoridating our water

Big bucks poured into fluoridating our water
30.08.2008
by Alison Brown news@dailypost.co.nz
Health officials are gearing up for a massive new campaign to persuade Rotorua residents and decision-makers to add fluoride to local water supplies.

The Lakes District Health Board has secured $31,000 - including $25,000 from the Ministry of Health - to fund the two-year campaign which will involve blind water tasting activities at City Focus, widespread advertising, and the recruitment of sporting figures to a new group aimed at countering arguments against fluoridation.

The campaign, to be launched within weeks, is the latest effort by members of the Rotorua Dental Health Campaign Group to get fluoridation back in the public spotlight after several failed attempts to convince Rotorua District Council of its benefits.
The contentious issue has been debated by district councillors several times over the past six years after the health board decided in August 2002 to urge the council to fluoridate the city's water to combat Rotorua's epidemic of rotting teeth.
Health board figures show Rotorua has the worst dental hygiene in New Zealand behind Northland, which also does not fluoridate its water.
About 33 per cent of 5-year-olds in Rotorua have no teeth decay, compared with 46 per cent of children starting school in Taupo, where water is fluoridated.
Despite the evidence, district councillors have voted to stay with the status-quo.
Last year, they also rejected a submission by then board member Rob Vigor Brown to hold a referendum on the issue .

Health Rotorua PHO chairman Kevin O'Connor, whose public relations firm has been contracted to help develop the campaign, said supporters had learned from previous public campaigns that people needed time to hear all the facts.

"[With this campaign] we'll be spending more time with people and talking to them in different ways to combat the fearmongering that goes on."

The campaign includes plans to distribute flyers to every Rotorua household educating people about fluoridation.

A website will be set up and a speakers' programme is planned. Groups to be targeted include churches, service clubs and school trustee boards.

Public activities will include a water-tasting survey at City Focus, with blind tastings by passers-by of water from three of the city's water supplies plus fluoridated samples from Taupo and Gisborne.

In a draft document presented recently to health board committee members, the campaign group said the aim will be "not only to gain publicity by inviting people to identify the fluoridated water, but also counter claims that water from one of the city's supply sources [Lynmore] is ideally pure and good-tasting and should not be 'tampered' with by fluoridation."

Campaigners are also planning to form the Rotorua Oral Health Association to be the community "face" of the campaign. It's hoped high-profile Rotorua health experts, community and sporting figures will join the group. The document states the group will be "free to directly attack anti-fluoridation misinformation as untrue and harmful."

DHB chairman Stewart Edward said the campaign would make sure the community heard all the facts.

"Oral health is an important health issue and previous campaigns haven't really given people the chance to hear all sides of the story.

"Councillors appear reluctant to make the decision [to fluoridate] on their own but if a referendum is held via the council then we want to make sure people will be making an informed choice."

Anti-fluoride campaigners say they are not surprised by the health board's latest drive. But Fluoride Free Water Group spokesman Martin Sharp said he was confident that Rotorua's water supplies were not under threat from fluoride.

"Councillors seem pretty entrenched in their views and there's perceptions in the community that nature knows best. We should keep things chemical-free."

USA - Political newcomer sweeps into office

Political newcomer sweeps into office
With no campaign signs or funds raised, anti-fluoride candidate ousts ECUA incumbent
Elizabeth Campbell says she owes her recent election to the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority board to a single issue: her distaste for fluoride in drinking water.
Campbell ousted the incumbent candidate without raising a dime or placing a single yard sign in her district in western Escambia County.
Instead, her bid for public office got a boost from local anti-fluoride activists, members of the grassroots organization known as Campaign for Liberty, an upstart political group affiliated with one-time Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.
Campbell, who ran as a Republican, is a member of Campaign for Liberty's local chapter. Her meetup.com profile also lists affiliations with a half-dozen other Campaign for Liberty chapters throughout the Southeast.
Campaign for Liberty members who live in Campbell's district voted en masse Tuesday and swept the former Ferry Pass Middle School teacher into office.
"I'm pretty amazed," Campbell said the day after defeating Logan Fink, the two-term incumbent Republican.
Fink, an assistant professor in biology, environmental science and soil science at Pensacola Junior College raised about $8,000 for his campaign. He peppered the district, which covers Escambia's west side to Perdido Bay, including Beulah, Bellview and Myrtle Grove, with small blue advertisements emblazoned with his name.
Fink, who has served on the ECUA board for the past eight years, said he's never actually met Campbell and said he doesn't believe that she's ever attended one of the board meetings.
"I couldn't pick her out of a lineup of people," Fink said. "I have never met this woman, but apparently the anti- fluoride group seems to have a large pocket in our district, and apparently I didn't realize how large it was."
Adopting fluoridation
In December 2000, the ECUA board made the Pensacola metropolitan area the last place in the state to adopt fluoridation standards, two years after residents passed a nonbinding resolution in support of fluoridation.

Local dentists lobbied the ECUA board to adopt standards, saying it would benefit children's teeth.

"That battle was fought before I got on the board, and I wasn't part of that debate," said District 2 board member Lois Benson. "I am certainly not interested in revisiting that issue. I have grandchildren, and I want them to have healthy teeth."

Then a newcomer to the board, Fink originally helped kill the fluoride measure but later decided that it needed to be approved when the board revisited the issue.
Those opposed to fluoride in drinking water say the chemical is toxic and can cause cancer among other health problems.
"I think a lot of people are becoming more and more aware of the fluoride issue, just as I have become more recently," Campbell said. "I know Mr. Fink kind of brushed that issue off as not being an important issue. Maybe he might rethink that."

Garnering support
Nicholas Dodds, 23, a resident and member of Campaign for Liberty, voted for Campbell.

"We looked at candidates and noticed there weren't a lot of them who were against fluoridation in the water," Dodds said. "She's avidly against fluoride. We were behind her the whole way."

Members of Campaign for Liberty went to various civic groups to pitch the anti-fluoridation cause and to convince people to vote Campbell onto the ECUA board. They also used the video-sharing Web site YouTube.com to publish an amateur attack ad that highlighted other ECUA candidates' support of fluoridation.

It worked.

The Aug. 27 headline on the "Daily Paul," an online publication dedicated to all things Ron Paul, read: "Ron Paul Candidate wins in Pensacola!!!!" The headline linked to a story about Campbell with one user who posted a suggestion that Campbell run for Congress.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

what's your IQ? click here to find out



Fluoridation lowers IQ!

USA - Staggering health survey results released

Staggering health survey results released
By Melissa Lore / Independent Reporter
Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Oral Health - Permanent Teeth Extraction

63% reported permanent teeth extraction

Newport Arkansas is fluoridated and so is most of Jackson County Arkansas: NYSCOF

Friday, August 29, 2008

UK - Extra cost of fluoride in water?

Extra cost of fluoride in water?
By Jon Reeve
ADDING fluoride to the water supply of two-thirds of Southampton's residents could condemn thousands of youngsters to a lifetime of paying for expensive dental treatment.
That is the fear raised by campaigners arguing against fluoridation who say it will mean one in eight children will grow up to experience discoloured or mottled teeth.
Southampton residents will get the chance to have their say on adding fluoride to the city's water supply when a public consultation starts on September 8 - but campaigners are already out in force.
City health chiefs want fluoride introduced in a bid to improve chronic dental health amongst children in more deprived areas.
But those against topping up levels of the chemical say there is no proof it actually helps reduce tooth decay - and it leads to negative side effects such as bone cancer, thyroid problems, brain damage, fertility complications and fluorosis.
Tony Lees, dental adviser to UK Councils Against Fluoridation, said the most comprehensive study into the practice, the York Review, estimated 12.5 per cent of people in fluoridated areas would develop fluorosis.
"That breaks down to three or four children in every class in all schools," he said.
"The Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, claims that fluoridation is giving poor kids rich kids' teeth'.
"In fact it does the opposite - it actually condemns one in eight of the population to a lifetime of paying for completely avoidable cosmetic dentistry."
Dr Lees said veneers to hide dental fluorosis cost about £400 per tooth.
But Southampton City Primary Care Trust (PCT) claims most fluorosis is minor and many sufferers remain unaware of it.
"It is possible that a very small proportion of children may experience mild fluorosis following the introduction of a fluoridation scheme," said a PCT spokesman. "But this has to be set against their significantly lower risk of tooth decay and their lower risk of needing teeth filled or extracted under a general anaesthetic.
"Usually, the fluorosis appears as pearly white marks, often making the affected part of the tooth seem whiter than the rest.
"Severe mottling, where the marks are brown rather than white, is associated with very high natural fluoride levels in water in hot climates. This would not apply to the proposed scheme for Southampton and surrounding areas."
South Central Strategic Health Authority (SHA) is launching a public consultation on fluoridation which will run until December 19. Events offering people the chance to talk to experts about fluoridation will take place across the region and a document setting out information will be published. Anyone wishing to express views about the move can email fluoridation@southcentral.nhs.uk. A final decision will be made early next year

Australia - Fluoride set for Mildura, Swan Hill, Kerang

Fluoride set for Mildura, Swan Hill, Kerang
Posted 9 hours 27 minutes ago
Map: Swan Hill 3585
Victoria's Health Department says it will be going ahead with the introduction of fluoride to water supplies in Mildura, Swan Hill and Kerang.

Victoria's chief health officer says the Loddon Mallee region has a high number of people needing hospital treatment for dental conditions and the benefits of fluoridation are proven.

John Carnie says information sessions will be held in Mildura next month.

He says after similar sessions at Swan Hill and Kerang, Lower Murray Water has been formally requested to introduce fluoride there.

"They have to construct a dosing plant and they have to put in the monitoring equipment that makes sure that the amount of fluoride going into the water keeps the level at one part per million, so that process can take up to 12 months, depending how complicated the engineering works are," he said.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Both Parties Need Planks to Restore Scientific Integrity at the CDC

Both Parties Need Planks to Restore Scientific Integrity at the CDC
August 27, 2008 12:33 PM EDT
NEW YORK, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- According to the Fluoride Action Network (FAN), there is a crucial need for both parties to restore scientific integrity to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on several policies. The most egregious is their continued unscientific support for water fluoridation.
"The simplest and quickest way to restore public trust in the CDC is for both Democrats and Republicans to put a commitment to end fluoridation into their party platforms," says Paul Connett, Ph.D., FAN's Executive Director.
According to Connett, "Fluoridated water contains 250 times more fluoride than in mothers' milk. In 1950, when the Public Health Service first endorsed fluoridation, no studies had investigated possible adverse health effects. Today, many published studies show fluoride is harmful, but the CDC is ignoring these studies and continues its relentless promotion and funding of this outdated practice."
The only risk that the CDC acknowledges is dental fluorosis - a tooth discoloration - which impacts 32% of American children (1). Both the ADA and the CDC now advise that fluoridated water not be used to prepare infant formula (2,3).
According to Connett, "this marking of the enamel indicates a child has been over-exposed to fluoride. We are concerned about how fluoride may be affecting the rest of the child's body. Over 20 studies show that fluoride can lower IQ (4,5)."
A 2006 National Research Council fluoride report revealed many health risks, including potential damage to the bones, brain and thyroid gland. The panel concluded that drinking fluoridated water can pose risks to those with thyroid or kidney disorders, diabetics, high water drinkers and infants and recommended that the US EPA lower their safe drinking water standard (6).
This new research has prompted over 1,800 professionals to call for an end to fluoridation worldwide (7).
Meanwhile, researchers reporting in the British Medical Journal (Oct 2007) showed that tooth decay has come down as fast in non-fluoridated countries as fluoridated ones (8).
"It is clear that the CDC's Oral Health Division is misleading the public about the safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation," says Connett.
"They must be held accountable for this. We need both political parties to resist the well-heeled dental lobby. Our children's health and the public's trust in government health agencies is at stake," says Connett.
http://www.FluorideAction.Net
References: http://fluoridealert.org/pr.8-27-08.html

Australia - Wine puts the acid on teeth

Wine puts the acid on teeth
DAMIEN BROWN
August 28, 2008 12:00am
INDULGING in too much wine may give you more than a headache.Tasmanian dentists have become increasingly concerned about a rise in tooth erosion that has been linked to drinking wine. Australian Dental Association Tasmanian branch president Rodney Geelan said many Tasmanians who enjoyed a tipple of red or white simply did not know wine could be harming their teeth. "Just like we saw many years ago a rise in teenage tooth erosion caused by the consumption of sugary fizzy drinks, we are starting to see different causes presenting themselves now and one of those is wine," he said. "Drinking and tasting wine is a large part of Australian lifestyle and it is the high acidic rate of wine that causes that damage to teeth and can erode the enamel." Dr Geelan said it generally affected those who consumed a large amount of wine. The odd sip with dinner was not considered harmful. But he said a reduction of the risk was advisable. "When you consume anything that is acidic, like these sugary drinks, it is important to remember you should wait anywhere up to two hours before brushing your teeth," he said. "The acid will almost immediately start to eat away at your teeth, and brushing can in fact scrape a lot of the enamel off your teeth. "You should rinse with water, and another good idea is to drink wine with cheese because it will neutralise the effect." Dr Geelan said chewing low-sugar gum and using tooth mousse or gels was a good idea too. He said beer was less harmful to teeth because it contained fluoride. A study by GlaxoSmithKline found there had been a 60 per cent increase in acid wear, almost half of it caused by wine consumption. It said any food or drink with a pH of 5.5 or lower was considered harmful to teeth, and wine had a range of between 3.0 to 3.8. White wine is slightly more acidic than red. Most cases reported to dentists also involved wine merchants and tasters. Signs of wear include teeth losing their brightness, discolouration and sensitivity.

Canada - Health Unit defends flouride in water

News for Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Health Unit defends flouride in waterWritten by Christine Curtis
The Grey Bruce Health Unit is weighing in on the fluoride debate.
A panel of experts commissioned by Health Canada recently recommended lowering the amount of fluoride added to municipal water and toothpaste.
Implementing any reductions would be up to individual municipalities.
Manager of Health Protection Lou D'Alesandro says Owen Sound's water is well within recommended guidelines for fluoride levels.
D'Alesandro quotes the World Health Organisation which states that universal access to fluoride for dental health is a part of the basic human right to life.
He agrees with experts who say that water fluroridation helps prevent tooth decay.
He says that although the Health Canada study recommends lowering fluoride levels because of possible adverse effects on children, further studies need to be done.
D'Alesandro says there are many other factors that can affect a child's development and I.Q., including socio-economic reasons.

New CariFree Website Increases Patients' Dental IQ:

The CDC reports that dental decay is one of the most prevalent diseases in the U.S. affecting 68% of kids by the time they are 19. 27% of adults ages 20-39, 21% of adults ages 40-59, and 19% of adults ages 60+ have untreated dental caries.

After over 60 years of water fluoridation and 50 years of fluoridated toothpaste:NYSCOF

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

USA - Baby's dental visit crucial before first year

Baby's dental visit crucial before first year
Aug 27, 2008 12:00 AM
By Barbara Grijalva
Too many Arizona parents have no idea when baby's first dental visit should be, and that's causing a bunch of problems that could be prevented.
Here's something that surprised us: About one-third of Arizona children have cavities by the age of three.
They all should have seen a dentist before their first birthday.
And if you think, "Oh those are just baby teeth," you're in for even a bigger, and very unpleasant surprise.
Tucson Pediatric Dentist Dr. Laila Hishaw greets one of her regulars, actually one of her own twins, 9-month-old Hayden who has been coming with brother Nicholas to see the dentist since their first baby teeth came in.
Dr. Hishaw says, "That's one of the most common questions I get from the parents. Why do we have to treat these? They're just baby teeth. Aren't they going to fall out?"
Well, baby molars don't fall out until age 10, 11 or even 12.
Dr. Hishaw says, "We need those teeth not only for function, but for speech, but also they serve as kind of a spacer to guide in the permanent teeth."
How bad can things get?
Dr. Hishaw says, "If we haven't seen them before they're three, and they haven't had the opportunity to learn about how to prevent diseases by not putting your infant to bed with the bottle or sugary liquid or juice and how to limit the snacks, then, unfortunately, sometimes when I have a 3-year-old come in, the decay is so extensive, that we have to put them to sleep under general anesthesia."
Imagine needing a root canal and a crown at age three.
And here's something else you can do to prevent cavities. Don't share your germs.
Dr. Hishaw says, "Make sure that you're not sharing spoons and forks with your child. The baby is not born with the bacteria that causes cavities. So you're actually transmitting it."
Dr. Hishaw says the best way to brush baby's teeth at home is with a non-fluoride toothpaste because babies can't spit at this age.
And place baby's head in your lap.
Then, Dr. Hishaw says, "In small, circular motions, massage the teeth around the gums, because that's where the plague is going to develop first. Plaque is the bacteria that causes the cavities"
Any adult who fears going to the dentist will understand another benefit of starting dental care early.
Dr. Hishaw says, "Then they grow up without the fear and anxiety of seeing a dentist and your children could be cavity-free for life if we start early."
And even before that first dental visit, Dr. Hishaw recommends you clean baby's gums with a clean wet washcloth after every feeding.
One added benefit to cleaning is that it gets the baby used to it, and ready for brushing and to see the dentist when those first little teeth come in.
More advice for parents from Dr. Hishaw:
1. Wean the infant from the bottle by the first birthday.2. Don't put them to bed with a bottle of milk or juice or nurse "at-will" throughout the night.3. Juice or any other sugary liquid should NEVER be in the bottle at any time. Diluted juice in a sippy cup (1/2 cup a day) only when sitting down and eating a meal.4. Wipe the gums and tongue after every feeding. Brush as soon as teeth emerge.5. Careful of sticky snacks and sour Mexican candies. (Lucas is made with acetic acid).6. Parents should keep up their oral hygiene and see a dentist twice a year and not share their cup or spoon or clean a pacifier in their mouth.7. And finally, bring your infant in to see the pediatric dentist by their first birthday!!!

Arizona is 50% fluoridated

USA - A problem with bite: Keeping your teeth healthy

A problem with bite: Keeping your teeth healthy
By HILARY POWELLhilary.powell@shj.com
Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 3:15 a.m. Lauren Sprouse, 8, of Moore frowns during a fluoride treatment at the dentist office of Dr. H.J. Turner III in Spartanburg."How long do I need to leave it in?" she asked.
Later, she said, "The best part about coming is you get your teeth cleaned, but the fluoride is nasty."
The dental treatment might be bitter, but it helps to make sure Sprouse is not part of a biting statistic from the U.S. Surgeon General that ranks tooth caries, or tooth decay, as the most common chronic childhood disease.
In South Carolina, more than half of children younger than 8 years old have experienced tooth decay, and about one third have untreated tooth decay, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
"That's huge. That's a third of our kids sitting in a classroom with a cavity," said Christine Veschusio, director of the department's Division of Oral Health.
It's one reason that Healthy Smiles of Spartanburg Children's Dental Clinic hosts regular clinics at its facilities at Spartanburg Community College for children who qualify through their school nurse.
"There's an atrocity of children in crisis," said Cindy Roddey, executive director of Healthy Smiles.
The group receives referrals from school nurses in District 7 schools to identity students from families who don't qualify for Medicaid but make too little to afford dental care.
In 2006, Samuel Wilson Sr. was a single parent who couldn't make the payments needed to send his son to see a dentist, he said. A nurse at Landrum High School referred his son, David Wilson Jr., to Healthy Smiles.
"I talk to a school nurse, and that's the only one who ever offered to help us," he said. "They took care of his teeth, and he smiles at everybody now."
At the time, the younger Wilson was 17 and had never seen a dentist.
Turner said free and low-cost dental hygiene programs are part of the solution to help keep children healthy enough to stay in school, he said.
"Studies have identified dental problems as a primary reason children miss school," he said. "If you do enough programs with kids on proper cleaning, it does continue throughout the years and lowers the amount of decay."
Reports also have related poor oral health to decreased school performance and poor social relationships.
Turner said it's never too early to start taking preventive steps to keep tiny teeth healthy. He recommends children start going to a dentist after their first birthday and continue follow-ups every six months, he said.
He also encourages young patients to get sealants placed on their teeth. A sealant is a thin plastic coating painted into the grooves on the biting surfaces of back molar teeth to prevent and stop cavities.
Hygiene inspections shouldn't replace regular dentist office visits, but every bit helps, Turner said.
Tammi Byrd, CEO and clinical director of Health Promotion Specialists, agrees. Her program sends 20 dental hygienists to school districts around the state and has seen improvements in dental health using preventive measures such as sealants, she said.
"You don't have to have a cavity," she said. "You can treat something forever, but if you don't prevent it, you're never going to get on top of it."
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, children who receive dental sealants in school-based programs have 60 percent fewer new decayed surfaces in back teeth for up to two to five years after a single application.
Veschusio said DHEC has a goal to get sealants for half the state's third-graders as part of Healthy People 2010, a nationwide government initiative.
More than an office visit
Before Health Promotion Specialists began working in Union County, less than 10 percent of children eligible for Medicaid had received any dental treatment. Now, 70 percent of Medicaid-eligible children who have been seen by HPS have made it to a dental office to have an exam, Byrd said.
She said parental education makes sure lessons learned at the dentist's office follow children home.
Parents of children who participate with Healthy Smiles, for example, take an informational course about oral health, said Lynn King, community outreach coordinator for Healthy Smiles.
"We teach them about brushing, flossing, the value of nutrition," she said, "so it does not stop with the children. We want to reach out to the whole entire family."
Regular checkups can also help get young patients comfortable with the dentist's office.
Sprouse's mom, Carmon Burgess, said she first started bringing her daughter to the dentist when she was 2 and schedules regular checkups.
"Lauren actually looks forward to getting her teeth cleaned," Burgess said. "I want to make sure her teeth stay good and healthy so she'll have them for a while and so she doesn't have problems as an adult."

South Carolina is 91% fluoridated:NYSCOF

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Alex Jones & Paul Watson 3of4 - Britain, the new control freak wonderland



Way over the top but not so far away from the truth.

Monday, August 25, 2008

USA - Don't add fluoride

Don't add fluoride
to Sea Isle water
While reading the Aug. 16 article, "Lack of fluoride in Sea Isle water has some gritting their teeth," I found myself wondering why the latest findings of fluoridation's harmful effects have not reached the ears and desks of your decision makers. As responsible officials committed to acting on behalf of their constituents, Sea Isle officials made the right decision to stop the fluoridation practice several years ago.
Adding toxic, cumulative fluoride chemicals to the public drinking water is an outdated, failed and hazardous practice.
The consequences of fluoridation are fluoridated cooking water and a fluoridated food and beverage chain. Inevitably, this results in disturbingly increased total fluoride intake levels.
We urge Sea Isle officials and residents to consider the 500-page fluoride study report released by the prestigious National Research Council in 2006.
Also of great importance are the advisories of the American Dental Association and the Centers for Disease Control that fluoridated water not be used in infant formulas. This belated caution came as one of the results of the NRC fluoride report.
Please also look at the Fluoride Action Network Web site - www.fluoridealert.org - to avail yourself of the latest illuminating data and details.
PAUL S. BEEBER
President
New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation
Old Bethpage, N.Y.

UK - SHOCK FIGURES REVEAL SAD STATE OF CHILDREN'S MOUTHS

SHOCK FIGURES REVEAL SAD STATE OF CHILDREN'S MOUTHS
Date: 25 August 2008
By Emma Harris
MOST children in Blackpool have at least two decayed teeth by the time they start school.
Shocking new figures reveal the average child in the resort has 2.3 rotten teeth before their fifth birthday.

This is well above the national average of 1.5 and slightly above the regional average of two.

It puts Blackpool in a worse position tADVERTISEMENT han neighbouring Fylde and Wyre.

Bernard Alston, dental lead for Blackpool Primary Care Trust, said work was going on to try to tackle the problem of decay – including a pilot project to paint fluoride varnish on to children's teeth.

He said: "This will be offered to children up the age of five and is in line with Government strategy. It is a pilot scheme and the outcome of this trial will be evaluated, prior to making decisions.

"When you look at the figures, Blackpool has a comparable level of tooth decay to other areas with similar levels of deprivation. Evidence suggests a link between tooth decay and deprivation.

"To tackle the issue, we have to look at prevention, as well as cure. We have pretty much nailed the cure side; it's now working on prevention and education at all ages."

He said the resort's Brushing for Life scheme had been extended – giving out tooth-brushing packs at intervals until children were two-and-a-half years old plus advice.
He added work was also going on in Sure Start nurseries to promote tooth-brushing and supervise brushing.
Blackpool is by no means the worst in the country – with some areas, including Manchester, Blackburn, Nottingham and Knowsley, having an average of three rotten teeth by five years old.
Wyre is slightly below the national average, with 1.4 rotten teeth per child under five.
Fylde is well below the average though with just one.
Earlier the year, Poulton dentist Graham Wilding – who launched a UK-wide crusade to "stop the rot" – warned The Gazette that if nothing was done, half of all babies born in Lancashire would have decay by primary school.

He backed calls to add fluoride to tap water, adding he had been horrified at being forced to remove decayed teeth from the mouths of children as young as four.

Supporters of a campaign to put fluoride in drinking water say it helps harden and strengthen the enamel of teeth against tooth decay.

But those who oppose the idea claim its benefits are unproven and they believe it can lead to health problems.

Dr Susie Sanderson, executive chairwoman of the British Dental Association, said: "It really is a desperate situation. We cannot afford to let this get worse."

Sunday, August 24, 2008

The History of Fluoride, A century of neurological breakdown

UK - Is the fluoride in our water really good for our teeth?

Is the fluoride in our water really good for our teeth?
By Hilary Freeman
Last updated at 10:31 PM on 23rd August 2008
The Government wants 40 per cent of England's water supply to be fluoridated to reduce high levels of tooth decay. But its critics say it has been linked to conditions such as hypothyrodism (underactive thyroid gland). Here we explain what you should know.
Q: What is fluoride?
A: A naturally occurring mineral found in water and some foods (such as tea and fish). It can also be chemically produced - as in toothpaste. Fluoride strengthens tooth enamel and makes teeth more resistant to acid attacks.
Q: What is water fluoridation? How does it work?
A: 'Fluoride, like other minerals, is a natural constituent of all water supplies; fluoridation is the process of topping up low natural levels to a safe level known to be beneficial to dental health - around one part of fluoride to one million parts of water,' says Michael Lennon, professor of clinical dentistry at the University of Sheffield and adviser to the British Fluoridation Society.
Fluoride at this level occurs naturally in water supplies in some places throughout the world. The purpose of fluoridation is to reduce tooth decay.'
More...
The Fluoride-free way to a healthy smile
Q: Who has fluoridated water?
A: Only ten per cent of the UK's water supplies are fluoridated - mainly in the West Midlands and North-East England, which were fluoridated in the Sixties. Worldwide, about 355million householders receive fluoridated water, including about 70 per cent of the US population.
Q: Why do we need fluoride in water?
A: 'In fluoridated areas children experience less toothache and have fewer dental abscesses. Adults keep more of their own teeth for longer and suffer less root decay, and the cost to the NHS is reduced substantially,' says Prof Lennon.
Q: Does drinking fluoridated water really protect teeth better than a fluoride toothpaste?
A: 'No,' says Paul Connett, professor of chemistry at Lawrence University in New York and scientific adviser to the Pure Water Association. 'Leading researchers are now acknowledging that fluoride's benefits are mainly topical (applying it directly to the teeth) and not systemic.
'In other words, you don't have to swallow fluoride to protect teeth. World Health Organisation figures show no difference in tooth decay in 12-year-olds between the vast majority of European countries which are not fluoridated and the few that are.'
Q: What are the other worries with fluoride?
A: Excess fluoride can cause dental fluorosis, where the tooth enamel becomes mottled and discoloured from too much fluoride while the permanent teeth are still developing. Studies have also linked fluoridation with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), bone diseases, cancers, infertility, early onset of puberty and hyperactivity. Eighteen studies have also shown drinking fluoridated water lowers IQ.
• For three of the best non-fluoride products, see www.mailonsunday.co.uk/fluoridefree

USA - Clinic’s shortage of dentists leads to restrictions in care

By DEAN OLSENSTATE
JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Aug 23, 2008 @ 12:13 AM
Amanda Tebrugge sat outside the Capitol Community Health Center on Friday, grateful that dentists at the center have pulled 12 of her decayed teeth, two at a time, in the past two years and charged only $15 for each visit.
But she was frustrated when she was unable to secure an appointment to have her three remaining teeth pulled.
That’s because a shortage of dentists — caused by the unexpected loss of one staff dentist and decisions by two new recruits to pull out before their arrival — has prompted the health center’s board to temporarily restrict new dental appointments to patients 20 and younger.
“I’m at the point where I can’t hardly eat at all,” said Tebrugge, 26, of Springfield. Tebrugge, a newspaper carrier and personal caregiver, has no dental insurance. She had hoped to get her remaining teeth pulled so she can receive dentures from a Jacksonville dentist in September.
Tebrugge and hundreds of other low-income adults may have to wait two or three more months.
“I know they’re trying, but I’m getting tired of having to wait,” Tebrugge said.
Most of the center’s 5,300 dental patients are adults.
“Hopefully it doesn’t last too long,” Forrest Olson, the center’s chief executive officer, said of the new policy. “There’s a tremendous need.”
The not-for-profit center at 2239 E. Cook St. doesn’t advertise the low-cost dental program. But word has spread quickly among people covered by Medicaid, who often have problems finding dentists willing to accept Medicaid reimbursements. People without Medicaid, private dental insurance or the money to pay for care from Sangamon County’s 150 private dentists also found the center’s sliding-scale fees more affordable.
Most dental patients at the center pay only $15 per visit, regardless of whether they receive a cleaning, a filling or have teeth pulled.
The center, whose $6 million annual budget comes mainly from federal grants and Medicaid reimbursements, employs eight physicians. As recently as February, Capitol Community also employed three dentists.
All three dentists, in addition to their pay, received the additional benefit of reducing their debts from dental school through a National Health Service Corps program that requires them to serve a disadvantaged population for a certain period of time.
One dentist left when he fulfilled his NHSC obligation. Another left in June when she also fulfilled her obligation. Center officials had mistakenly believed she had another year left, Olson said. About the same time, two newly minted dentists — who Olson thought planned to start work at the center — changed their minds.
It’s hard to retain dentists at a community clinic, Olson said. The center pays young dentists a competitive wage — about $110,000 annually. But in private practice, he said dentists can make more money in the long run, and perform a wider range of services not offered at Capitol, including crowns, bridgework, cosmetic dentistry and procedures requiring sedation.
The center’s board decided to focus the remaining dentist’s time on children and young adults for best long-term results, Olson said.
Patients line up every Friday morning, sometimes an hour or more before the center’s normal 8 a.m. opening time, to set up dental appointments a week in advance. Signs posted at the center this week announcing the shutdown of new appointments for most adults after Sept. 1 added to the anxiety among the patients in line Friday.
Dawn Taielua, 44, of Springfield, said she arrived at 6:30 a.m., hoping to set up a time to get a tooth pulled. The staff opened the doors about 6:45 a.m. Friday to set up appointments for the dozens waiting.
Taielua, a taxi driver who was 29th in line, was told she was too late. All the appointments had been taken.
“Low-income people — sometimes you have to wait longer,” she said. “I can’t complain.”
Springfield resident Douglas Holt, 41, an uninsured clerical worker, was turned away for an appointment for fillings. He said the fillings and tooth extractions provided to him previously by the center were 90 percent cheaper than at a private dentist.
Holt said he plans to be in line next Friday, as early as 5:30 a.m., if necessary.
Tebrugge said she also plans to be in line early.
She said it was much easier to see a dentist when the program first opened.
“It’s affordable, and now that everyone’s learned that they’re there, it’s just too busy,” she said.
The Capitol Community Health Center can be reached at 788-2300.
Dean Olsen can be reached at 788-1543.

The state of Illinois has been fluoridated for decades:NYSCOF

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Dangerous Drinking Water - November 16, 2007

Television: Awakening The Reptile Mind

Victoria Hardy
August 22, 2008
Sometimes I´m pretty sure we are de-evolving, regressing in time to the state of our nearest kin, the apes. This, of course, is not a natural evolution, this is designed by man for one reason only - to maintain the power structure. This de-evolution we are undergoing is quite insidious and ingeniously created and sold to the masses. Television, with the addition of mind numbing additions like fluoride, mercury, pharmaceuticals and aspartame, is the tool that brings us down to our baser thinking and the lowest denomination of humanity and we love it. We certainly have a herd mentality or should I say "monkey see, monkey do" and the media does a fine job of keeping us on the path.

We learn a lot from television and movies, political ideas, styles, morals, fashions, "common" knowledge, body image, sexual behavior and diet come through the screen and into our homes and into our minds. We accept this transfer as a normal part of being, but how often do we question what is sneaking into our brains? Into our children´s brains? Most of us watch television and have them in multiple rooms and even our children have televisions in their bedrooms and we believe watching the flashing box is harmless entertainment and in many cases, educational. But what is happening in our brain as we relax and watch the pretty colors?

In 1969 researcher Herbert Krugman decided to understand what happens to the brain while watching television. He found that in as little as thirty seconds of viewing the brain switched from beta waves, indicating alert consciousness, to alpha waves, an unfocused daydreaming state just below consciousness. When Krugman´s patient began reading a magazine, instead of watching television, the beta waves resumed. Further research has shown that the left hemisphere of the brain, the part that processes information logically, tunes out while viewing television and the right hemisphere, emotional and non-critical, steps forward. Dr Krugman concluded that television transmits "information not thought about at the time of exposure." Brainwashing

Studies have also shown reduced activity in the higher brain or the neo cortex, the most highly evolved part of our brain responsible for reason, memory and cognition, while viewing television. Whereas the lower brain, the limbic system, shows increased activity. The limbic system is responsible for regulating our emotional state and mood; it is associated with feelings of anger, fear, rage, sexual arousal, pleasure, and sadness and is often referred to as the "reptile brain". The limbic system is also part of our natural "fight or flight" instinct and cannot discern the truth of what is being viewed; to the reptile brain it is all reality. And interestingly enough, the limbic system is also where many psychiatric disorders are hatched. So the harmless entertainment that the average household spends hours a day pursuing is not so harmless after all.

Television has also become the babysitter for our children and we soothe ourselves with ideas of educational programming, but neuroscientists have shown that environmental experiences significantly shape the developing brain and repeated stimulus in a child´s environment may strongly impact mental and emotional growth. Regular television watching, particularly when children are at the age of developing language and social skills negatively affects the brain and results in lower academic performance, especially in reading and reading comprehension. Also the stimulus provided by the television may lend to attention disorders. The neo cortex develops through childhood and adolescence, leading to self-control and critical thinking and television inhibits the development of this higher learning center. International Child and Youth Care Network


By the time the average American child has reached the age of 13 he has viewed more than 100,000 acts of violence on the television. And in viewing this violence his reptile brain awakens which can lead to immunity to the horror of violence, accepting violence as a way to solve problems, acting out aggressively to mimic what was seen and identifying with either the victim or the victimizer. Could this have something to do with the bizarre murders we see daily in the news these days? Could it have something to do with the rash of child on child and child on adult crime?

Unfortunately, though, we Americans love our televisions and refuse to accept that we are being molded and changed by what we are watching, catch phrases and moral examples are being insidiously introduced while we believe we are the ones in control of our thoughts and ideas. In a recent study by the Parents Television Council they examined all scripted prime time entertainment programs on the major broadcast television networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and the CW) during four weeks at the beginning of the 2007-2008 television season (September 23-October 22, 2007) for a total of 207.5 programming hours (reality shows were not included). And what they discovered was that once taboo subjects for television were now found in prime time television, including references to threesomes, partner swapping, pedophilia, necrophilia, bestiality, masturbation, pornography, sex toys, and kinky or fetishistic behaviors. According to PTC president Tim Winter, "Behaviors that were once seen as fringe, immoral, or socially destructive have been given the stamp of approval by the television industry."

The study also found that network television seemed to shy away from references of marital sex, but embraced discussions of masturbation, oral sex, anal sex, manual stimulation, sex toys, bondage or kinky or fetishistic sex, with 74 examples during the study. The hours between 8 and 9pm, known in the television industry as the "Family Hour", contained the most references to non-martial sex versus marital sex by a ratio of 3.9 to 1. During the 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm hours, the references to non-marital versus marital sex dropped to 2.5 to 1. And references to incest, pedophilia, partner swapping, prostitution, threesomes, transsexuals/transvestites, bestiality, and necrophilia combined outnumbered references to sex in marriage on NBC by a ratio of 27 to 1. ParentsTV

What we need to understand is that this didn´t just happen; it has been designed and created with purpose. It is social engineering and we are being engineered to embrace our lowest form of existence, to surrender critical thinking and morality and accept simply what the flashing box displays as normal behavior. The box informs us when to be angry, what to fear and how our sexuality should be expressed. What raises us above the animals is our neo cortex, our ability to reason, express self-control, weigh options and consider consequences, but the television tells us that that portion of our brain is a hindrance and actually has the power to disconnect the cognitive power of our mind.

The change in our society has been slow, like increasing the heat under that poor frog soon to be boiled to death and we accept the change as "modern" times or enlightenment or tolerance of others, but the result is the same and the frog still dies. As time unfolds and we can no longer live safely under the threat of sudden and inexplicable violence by strangers and we can´t leave our home out of fear of exposing our children to the humans engaged in sex in the streets, perhaps we will look back and discern what happened. Or perhaps the brain washing will be complete and we will all function like predatory animals led only by our reptilian brain.

UK - Water wars

..................At the same time I notice something weird is happening with bottled water. Around the world, folks are starting to ask if it's really such a good idea. In London, where the distance food travels from farm to fork is already an obsession, the Green Party asks diners to request tap water. Gordon Brown recently announced that his government would be phasing out bottled waters in all its departments. In the US the mayors of several cities have pledged to do the same. Suddenly, bottled water is big news. I watch as reporters, using statistics from academics and environmental groups, blast away at the bottled water industry. But, curiously, their focus isn't water, at first. It's oil. Specifically, the 17m barrels it takes each year to make water bottles for the US market alone. That's enough oil to fuel 1.3m cars for a year.

There's also the energy needed to fill the bottles or to move them to consumers. Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute estimates that the total energy required for every bottle's production, transport and disposal is equivalent, on average, to filling that bottle a quarter of the way with oil. Transporting bottled water in the UK is said to create 33,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. And then there's the water itself. Manufacturing and filling plastic water bottles consumes at least twice as much water as the bottle will ultimately contain..................

USA - The Politics of Fluoridation

The Politics of Fluoridation
by Sally Stride Page 1 of 1 page(s)
Fluoridation was adopted more by politicking than by science according to Edward Groth III, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, with Consumers Union, publishers of the popular Consumers Reports magazine.

In a presentation made at the February 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Groth reported that, with three experimental fluoridation trials incomplete, enthusiastic fluoridation proponents successfully lobbied and persuaded the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) to endorse fluoridation in 1950 who, then with a few state dental officials, began vigorously promoting fluoridation with little, if any, scientific support.

According to Groth, whose 1973 Stanford University doctoral dissertation partially evaluated the use of scientific information in fluoridation policy-making. “There were no significant studies examining the long-term health of people in communities with naturally fluoridated water. .. (However,) exposure via drinking water, at levels not much higher than what was proposed for fluoridation, had been associated in numerous published studies, beginning around 1940, with serious adverse skeletal and neuromuscular effects, in India and other countries. Opposition to fluoridation initially came from scientists concerned about the lack of good evidence on possible health risks,” writes Groth

In order to get fluoridation passed, proponents often belittled opponents and used slick public relations schemes, while refusing to debate the issue, to get fluoridation accepted, reports Groth. Something they still do today

Said Groth, “Those who did openly oppose fluoridation were often subject of personal attack and professional reprisals. For decades, mainstream scientific journals would reject for publication any paper that did not articulate a strictly pro-fluoridation position on risk and benefit questions.”

“I myself had three manuscripts based on my doctoral dissertation rejected by U.S. public health journals in the 1970s,” says Groth. “My reviews of the evidence on risks and benefits of fluoridation were sent to anonymous pro-fluoridation referees, who found them “biased.” One editor advised that he wished to do nothing that might offer anti-fluoridationists any political leverage...(However,) I was politically outside the fray; my interest was exploring the interplay between political controversy and interpretations of scientific data. My papers were still rejected by several leading American journals in the 1970s, I believe because of a pervasive bias in favor of defending and promoting fluoridation,” writes Groth.

Groth reports of the early days of fluoridation, “ Leading PHS dental researchers lobbied every leading scientific organization, to gain endorsements of fluoridation. They cast fluoridation as a product of scientific progress under siege from anti-scientific forces, and rallied the scientific community in political support of the measure. They carried out a few studies looking for possible adverse effects of fluoridation; the studies were poorly designed and inconclusive, by today’s standards, but they found no convincing evidence of harm.
The PHS declared the issues closed, the debate over. The studies were roundly criticized as inadequate and biased by leading opponents of the day but fluoridation advocates rapidly took the stance that there was no longer any scientific doubt that fluoridation was safe and effective. Their political strategy was simply to steamroll the opposition, to insist that opponents had no basis for any valid objections. They focused on political campaigning, not on research; in fact, research all but halted, as it was politically inexpedient for the PHS to be studying questions they had already declared adequately answered.”

Friday, August 22, 2008

Scotland - Dentist left me down in mouth

Dentist left me down in mouth
Published Date: 21 August 2008
By GINA DAVIDSON
FLUORIDE rinses in the classroom (someone always swallowed rather than spat), school dentist visits, plus the six-monthly check up at the NHS dentist. Dental health was almost literally rammed down your throat as a child. I'd like to think it worked in my case – still got all my own at least, even if a few are filled.

But it would appear that despite all of this, Scotland's children still have substantially higher levels of recorded decay compared with other European countries.

Today new English figures will reveal that dental decay in youngsters is soaring – yet it's still nowhere near as bad as in Scotland, where the estimate of obvious decay in five-year-olds is 2.16 teeth per child.

As a result the Scottish Government has established a target that 60 per cent of primary one children will have no signs of dental disease by 2010.

All very laudable – but for it to work you have to have dentists on board. That's dentists who don't decide that because you're ten minutes late for an appointment your two children won't be seen for their six-monthly check up (and nor will their mother). The kind of dentists who have already printed off a charge letter totalling £30 for the privilege of having no treatment at all.

I am still fizzing at the events in my Gorgie dental surgery last week. To be told that not only would we not be seen despite a 40-minute journey to get there thanks to heavy traffic (cue high stress levels), but that I was being charged for nothing . . . well you can imagine the gnashing of teeth that occurred.

It is understandable that dentists get peeved when people fail to turn up and don't call to cancel. But that's not what happened in this case.

Admittedly the dentist may well have decided there was no time to see me, but to send two children packing without having the chance to open wide and say "aahh", is a kick in the teeth for the Government's aims. And surely the dentist hadn't planned to conduct all three of our check-ups in just ten minutes? Where had our appointment time gone?

Then of course there's this charging business. Scotland's health service is always held up as being far superior to that south of the Border, but not in this case.

In England and Wales dentists are not allowed to charge for missed appointments, but they can refuse future treatment. It's a similar scenario in Scotland for GP surgeries – there's no charge, but three-strikes and you're out policies are not unknown.

But Scottish NHS dentists can charge whatever they like if someone fails to show (not that we did, I must stress). It is completely at their discretion. They have more freedom than banks and credit card agencies when it comes to taking money out of your pocket.

They also have patients over a barrel given that there are so few dentists taking on NHS patients these days – if you don't want to pay the fine you could end up without any dentist whatsoever. In fact in Scotland 76 per cent of people who tried to register with an NHS dentist in the last two years have found doing so difficult.

Why is dentistry treated differently to other NHS health provisions? Why are patients charged at all for treatment – never mind missed appointments – when other NHS care is free at the point of delivery? Of course it's all to do with the archaic way they are paid. If they were paid in a similar way to GPs, by the size of their patient list, then charges for missed appointments would become unnecessary.

And if that then encourages people to take their kids to the dentist, rather than putting them off because they know they'll be slapped with a fine if they're slightly late, must surely be welcomed.

Until then though, the next time I'm kept waiting past my allotted appointment, I'll just hand over an invoice for my wasted time. I'm sure the dentist will understand.

UK - NHS dentists pulling more teeth

NHS dentists pulling more teeth
John Carvel, social affairs editor The Guardian, Friday August 22 2008 NHS dentists in England are extracting more teeth and providing patients with fewer x-rays, fillings and crowns, official figures revealed yesterday.

The NHS Information Centre said treatments involving the fitting or repairing of false teeth accounted for 38% of complex dental activity in 2003-04. This rose to 48% in 2007-08. At the same time, extractions increased from 7% to 8% of dentists' workload, but the proportion of time spent on preparing and fitting crowns fell from 48% to 35% and fillings from 28% to 26%.

Dr Barry Cockcroft, the chief dental officer, rejected a suggestion that the contract given to NHS dentists in April 2006 discouraged time-consuming interventions to save natural teeth. He said: "The oral health of the nation has improved dramatically over the last 10 years thanks to fluoride toothpaste, fluoridated water and greater awareness of the importance of oral hygiene." The increase in dentures was caused by a growth in the number of older people and a switch towards providing partial dentures instead of a full set.

The information centre said 27 million people - 53.3% of the population - were seen by an NHS dentist in the two years following the introduction of the contract. That was 1.1 million down on the number seen in the previous two years.

Mike Penning, a Conservative health spokesman, said: "Since Labour introduced its botched, untested new contract, well over one million people - more than the entire population of Birmingham - have lost access to an NHS dentist."

Thursday, August 21, 2008

BBC Radio 4 You and Yours today

BBC Radio 4 You and Yours today

Canada - Mayors, councillors do have 'moral right'

Mayors, councillors do have 'moral right'
Posted 21 hours ago
Sir:Regarding fluoridating Sarnia's water supply, Mayor Mike Bradley said, "I don't think we have the moral right to decide."

I was at the fluoride conferences in Toronto, from Aug. 7 to 11 and I can assure your readers that the science that was presented was of high quality. We heard from some eminent scientists, like Dr. Vyvyan Howard, a fetal development expert from Ulster and President of the International Doctors for the Environment; Dr. Susheela, from India, a world expert in researching fluoride's effects on the bone and the gut; and Dr. Jennifer Luke who has done research on fluoride's effects on the pineal gland, which suggests fluoride may cause early puberty in females. In Canada, we do no research on fluoride's effects on the thyroid, kidney and pineal gland, even though fluoride is known to bioaccumulate in these organs.

Health Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society and other organizations were invited to attend, but chose not to. The exception was a scientist from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

Fortunately, more and more dentists and doctors are becoming aware that the studies have not been done that show water fluoridation to be safe and effective and that the the latest studies from around the world show anything but.

If ever there was a case for using the Precautionary Principle, this is it. Mayors and councillors do have the moral right -- and indeed the moral obligation -- to cease water fluoridation.

Diane Sprules, BSc, MSc Oakville, ON

UK - 'Report Says Fluoride's in No Way Beneficial'

'Report Says Fluoride's in No Way Beneficial'
Posted on: Wednesday, 20 August 2008, 00:00 CDT
The Government's own commissioned report decided that there is absolutely no evidence that fluoride benefits teeth and that there could actually be a "disbenefit".
Its researchers found that about half of all children in fluoridated areas have dental and sometimes skeletal fluorosis, much of it "worrying." Future long term effects include thyroid deficiency and cancer.
Could Kate Taylor-Weetman write in and explain why, since fluoride has been officially declared to be useless, she finds it necessary to add a substance in the same poison category as paraquat to our tap water?
At its last meeting in November the Nuffield Council on Bio- Ethics considered the addition of fluoride to the water supply unethical.
Professor J. Montgomery of Southampton University said that if health authorities wish to impose fluoridation on the public, then they have a duty and a moral obligation to give full information about its dangers. Could Kate Taylor-Weetman tell us when these disclosures will be made?

KATE BOULTON Biddulph
(c) 2008 Sentinel, The (Stoke-on-Trent UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
Source: Sentinel, The (Stoke-on-Trent UK)

Check the Sugar in Toothpaste

Check the Sugar in Toothpaste
Posted on: Wednesday, 20 August 2008, 00:00 CDT
With reference to the article Mass medication back with fluoride (The Sentinel, August 14).
You then ask the question should fluoride be added to the water? Of course the answer is absolutely not. Fluoride is a highly toxic substance and is not needed at all in our water toothpaste or anything else we might use to clean our teeth or digest.
What is actually needed is better control of our manufactured food and not allowing our children to stuff their faces with bag after bag of sweets, cakes or sweet fizzy drinks.
I have very good teeth, not because I have used fluoride, but because I wasn't allowed too many sweet and sticky things while growing up.
I was allowed some sweets, but I had to brush my teeth with non- fluoridated toothpaste afterwards.
This is taking away our right to have clean unadulterated water.
You can get fluoridated toothpaste you can use, but personally I don't touch it at all. I use natural toothpaste, not mass-produced products that are advertised on TV.
Also check the toothpaste you are using hasn't got a lot of sugar added to make it more palatable.
I believe the answer is to make sure that pre-packed products don't have too much sugar in them.
Give children boundaries on how much sweet stuff they can eat and drink and stick to it, and make sure they clean their teeth after eating sweets and after every meal or at least two times a day, especially before they go to bed.
Also, can someone answer me a simple question? Why are dentists allegedly supporting this? Surely they are shooting themselves in the foot by backing this. If we have perfect, strong teeth, we won't need them anymore, will we?
ANN BEIRNE Wolstanton
(c) 2008 Sentinel, The (Stoke-on-Trent UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

Pakistan - BILAL SIDDIQUE, LAHORE

BILAL SIDDIQUE, LAHORE
Urban water quality in Pakistan has deteriorated dangerously over the past decade and the country’s most heavily populated province, the Punjab, is at risk, since in Lahore, leaking sewage pipes are allowing dirty water to seep into drinking water pipes, causing an increase in water-borne diseases. Since the mid-1990s, there has also been a concern about bone deformities caused by contaminated water. Each day, I step outside my home; I must tread carefully because the treacherously slippery, sewage-soaked mud greets me. Broken sewage lines leave huge pools of filthy water on the road and a stench lingers across the area. On the outskirts of Lahore, dozens of children were found with spinal and joint problems. That has been blamed on excessive fluoride and the mixing of the sewage water in the ground water. Moreover, deaths due to gastroenteritis, acute diarrhoea, or other water-borne illnesses rise each year during the summer. As water consumption increases, scarcity worsens and rains contribute to flooded sewage channels that often flow into clean water supplies. Therefore, I would request the authorities concerned to work on the sewage system of Lahore before it ends up contaminating the entire water reserve and jeopardising the health of Lahore.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Echo In my VIew

No mention of fluorosis or the rampant obesity in Birmingham that they have to hire a £45,000 fat czar to promote good health. No mention of the higher still births.
Notice the RICH diversity but one of Britain's most SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED areas. Why is it always 5 years olds that the comparison is made don't they know fluoride delays the eruption of teeth. No mention that the only genuine review of the evidence, the York Review, did not find that fluoridation was either effective or safe.
Click on picture to see larger image

Canada - Taking the fluoride out

Taking the fluoride out
Do we need it
Posted By BY LYNDA HILLMAN-RAPLEY
Updated 14 hours ago
If fluoride is a toxic chemical and our government warnings regarding toothpaste and mouthwash are harsh, it may be a red flag to stop adding fluoride to our water.

Although there is no fluoride in the north end of Lambton Shores (Lake Huron Water) system, Forest is part of the LAWSS system out of Sarnia and they do have fluoride in their system.

In a 1966 referenda, the citizens of London voted in favour of fluoridating the municipal public water supply coinciding with the transition from well water to Lake Huron water via the 'new' Lake Huron Water Supply System. Fluoridation equipment was incorporated into thedesign of the new Arva Pumping Station and fluoridation commenced on September 1, 1967.

The question as to getting the fluoride out has come to Lambton county council and Sarnia mayor Mike Bradley thinks this issue should go to the voters and suggests it be on the 2010 ballots as a referenda.

Each of the six member municipalities in the system must let their residents make the call under provincial regulations, he said.

"Because it was decided by the electorate, I don't think we have the moral right to decide," he said.

Fluoride was introduced to the Sarnia area water system in 1970 after more than a decade of acrimonious debate. A majority voted for it's inclusion in the water system in a plebiscite. Under the Fluoridation Act of 1990, the removal of fluoride must go to a referendum vote and the province even specifies how to word the question, Bradley said.

"The fact that there is actually a prescribed way to do this, and a prescribed question you must ask, tells you that there's been a lot of thought put into this," he said. "This is the only fair way to do it."

Toothpaste and mouthwash warnings are:

“Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age.”

“If you swallow more than used for brushing, get medical help or contact a PoisonControlCenter right away.”

"If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Centre right away."

“Never give fluoridated mouthwash or mouth rinses to children under six years of age, as they may swallow it.”

“Use non-fluoridated toothpaste or no toothpaste for young children.”

Lambton Shores Mayor Gord Minielly said he wants fluoride pulled from the system. He thinks the science that supports the use of fluoride is outdated and children are overexposed. He says even Dr. Chris Greensmith, the medical officer of health, doesn't have the facts.

"It's such a complicated issue," he said. "People are being fed a whole bunch of crap from guys like Dr. Greensmith who are using 40, 50 or 60-year-old information and studies."

But Greensmith said the data he's reading accumulated over the past six decades, not from that time. He said the American Public Health Association has called the addition of fluoride into water systems one of the 10 most successful public health measures ever.

"My position is not based on rhetoric, it's based on science," Greensmith said. "I don't want to get in a mudslinging match here. It's not very seemly or very productive."

The Town of Dryden, Ontario voted against fluoridation of their water on April 22nd, ending a debate that has gone on for more than one year. Council will decide what to do with the $300,000 they set aside for the intended fluoridation. Both Kitchener and Cambridge have natural fluoride in their water. (0.1-0.3ppm) Ninety-eight percent (98 per cent) of Europe has said no to fluoride.

Increasing the entire populations’ exposure to fluoride must increase the rates of fluorosis – is the government also setting aside a public-funded trust to compensate all those who suffer from what will be yet another iatrogenic illness?

Ninety-eight per cent of Europe does not use water fluoridation. Many countries have banned it outright. Quebec City discontinued water fluoridation on April 1, 2008; Niagara Region passed a by-law in February 2008 prohibiting water fluoridation. Thunder Bay recently said no thanks to water fluoridation. The number of citizens drinking fluoridated water in British Columbia and the province of Quebec has dropped to about four per cent.

Health Canada, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the US Environmental Protection Agency, have not been able to find any chronic toxicology studies to demonstrate safety of the actual products used in water fluoridation systems after 60years of use.

With files from Sarnia Observer.

Tooth Talk: Children’s dental health — not quite a myth

...Most people are aware of the benefit that fluoride has against the formation of cavities, especially in growing children. While there is fluoride in the water most people today drink bottled water which contains no fluoride. Having topical fluoride placed at your child’s check up appointments twice per year ensures that their teeth will remain healthy and strong..............

Why do we put it in then?

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Health Canada Suggests Lowering Fluoridation Levels to Protect Children's Teeth

NaturalNews) Canadian children are ingesting too much cavity-fighting fluoride and it can ruin their teeth. U.S. children ingest even more fluoride but no such sound advice is evident from U.S. officials. To avoid fluoride-induced yellow and tan discolored teeth (moderate dental fluorosis), fluoride chemicals injected into Canadian water supplies should be lowered, says an expert panel, including two Americans, convened by Health Canada. Less fluoride in children's toothpaste and infant formula is also recommended.

Because scientific evidence shows that even low amounts of ingested fluoride poses dental and health risks, many environmental groups, eleven U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Unions and over 1,780 professionals urge that fluoridation be stopped worldwide ((http://www.fluoridealert.org/profession...) .

"The best way to lower children's fluoride intake, as Health Canada suggests, is to stop fluoridation," says Paul Connett, PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network (FAN). "It makes no sense to prescribe fluoride drugs to children via the water supply at levels which are between 150 and 250 times higher than the level in mothers' milk," says Connett.

Despite breast milk's extremely low fluoride content, it's both protective against dental fluorosis and tooth decay, studies show.

Canadian water fluoride levels, now between 0.8 and 1.0 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water (mg/L), should be lowered to 0.7 mg/L, says Health Canada's fluoride panel. The level of fluoride in Toronto, Canada's water was reduced from 1.2 to 0.8 mg/L in 1999 and to 0.6 mg/L in 2005. In 2000, moderate dental fluorosis was reported in 14% of 7-year-olds and 12% of 13-year-olds.

Toronto-based Citizens for a Safe Environment (CSE) wants fluoridation stopped entirely in Toronto and will co-host two public fluoride meetings with FAN in downtown Toronto on Monday, August 11.

"These meetings will give the public information they don't get from our government or dental organizations," says CSE director Karen Buck. "In the afternoon, a panel will address the question of whether Toronto should stop fluoridating its water. In the evening, experts will explain fluoride's dangers to health."

After receiving an invitation to attend, the Ontario Dental Association (ODA) sent out a news release urging legislators and communities to stand up in support of fluoridation; but the ODA will not do so, themselves.

"The best way that the ODA can get communities and politicians to stand up for water fluoridation is to provide, in person, a cogent and scientifically-referenced defense of fluoridation at the afternoon forum," says Buck. For more info on the conferences: (http://fluoridealert.org/august.11.html) .

Dentists who promote fluoridation often dismiss mild dental fluorosis (white spots) as "not a problem." However, Dincer reports in the New York State Dental Journal that even white-spotted teeth can damage children's self-esteem. Cosmetic dentists happily cover up any dental fluorosis, mild, moderate or severe, often for very high out-of-pocket fees.

American children consume much more fluoride than Canadian children evidence shows. The six-member Health Canada panel included American dentist, Jayanth Kumar of the New York State Department of Health which still recommends water fluoride levels between 0.7 to 1.2 mg/L. Unlike American authorities, Health Canada does not recommend fluoride drops or tablets for children under age three who live in non-fluoridated communities.

The U.S. EPA also allows high amounts of (sulfuryl) fluoride pesticide residues to remain on foods which is not so in Canada, according to Health Canada.

In the U.S., up to 48% of children have fluorosis, with 4% moderate/severe, according to the CDC.
While dental Fluorosis is an obvious sign of fluoride toxicity, unseen is fluoride's toxic bodily effects.

A March 2006 National Research Council (NRC) fluoride report reveals science showing how fluoride jeopardizes health -- even at low levels deliberately added to public water supplies. Fluoride poses risks to the thyroid gland, bones, diabetics, kidney patients, high water drinkers, infants, and others and can severely damage children's teeth. At least three panel members advise avoiding fluoridated water and Panel Chairman, toxicologist John Doull, is worried about the thyroid effects.

Because of the NRC report, the National Kidney Foundation withdrew its fluoridation support and both the ADA and CDC advise that infant formula should not be mixed with fluoridated water. The NRC found plausible studies linking fluoride to lowered IQ.

The Health Canada fluoride panel claims that "the weight of evidence does not support a link between fluoride and intelligence quotient deficit."

However, "It is hard to believe that any "weight of evidence" analysis could possibly dismiss fluoride's neurological impacts. There have now been over 40 animal studies which show that fluoride can damage the brain, and no less than 18 studies which show that fluoride lowers IQ in children, and only 2 that don't," says Connett.

The latest issue of the journal Fluoride published 12 newly-translated Chinese studies, which report fluoride's effects on the brain, including the lowering of IQ in children. These and other brain studies will be reviewed at both conferences.

Dr. Vyvyan Howard, an infant and fetal pathologist, and president of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment, will be presenting a major review of studies on fluoride's brain effects, including the translated Chinese studies.

UK - Admit it: dental scheme is rotten

Admit it: dental scheme is rotten
Sue Carroll 19/08/2008
The "new" dental contract, widely predicted to fail because it was never even piloted, has resulted in thousands of children starting school with bad teeth.
Ten years ago this would be rare. Dentists giving parents private care could treat their offspring on the NHS. This deal is now called a special contract which few primary care trusts are prepared to provide.
So it's all or nothing. And since few dentists will take on new NHS patients, nothing means a quarter of five-year-olds in Britain now have rotten or missing teeth.
The system is in terminal decay. But from health minister Ann Keen just more denials. Too much sugar in diets, too little fluoride in the water. Blah, Blah.
It's time for the government to bite the bullet and admit this ill-considered, hasty and messy contract has been a catastrophic mistake.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Mike Rivero interviews Mary Sparrowdancer 2 of 3

Ian - Research Conclusion at FAN Conference

Fluoride can lead to softened bones

Fluoride can lead to softened bones
As a chiropractor, the health of my patients' bones and discs is of prime interest to me.
Fluoride is known to soften bones and damage intervertebral discs, which leads to increased bone deformities and increased chances of a nerve ailment such as sciatica. It also leads to accelerated loss of height with aging.
Fluoride can be provided by dentists to individuals who need it, rather than provided to everyone in the community without individual assessment of risks.
Deborah L.C. Corbett, D.C.
Fond du Lac

USA - The Fluoride Gap....

The Fluoride Gap....
If you read reporter John Stucke's story on fluoride Sunday, you know it's still a very divided issue in Spokane...you're either for it, or against it. There doesn't seem to be much of a middle ground.

Anti-fluoride activists show up at Regional Health District meetings, and claim fluoride is "a sisnister chemical additive."

Then you have those people who feel we need as much fluoride in our water as we can get. Proponents of adding fluoride to our water say "the lack of fluoridation in Spokane and Coeur d' Alene discriminates against the poor...especially children whose parents don't encourage good dental hygiene."

And here's something to chew on, the number of children throughout the county with dental decay rose from 49 percent to 62 percent between 2000 and 2005, according to the Spokane health district.

So, are you for or against fluoridation? We can start that conversation here...or continue it "On the Record with Rebecca Mack" Monday morning at 11a.m. Call us with your opinion at 232-0790.

-dan

Lots of comments worth reading

After 37 Years, Pediatrician Retires

...........He advises parents to protect their children's developing brains against environmental poisons, including mercury and lead. He recently caused a stir when he proposed that the Bangor Water District stop adding fluoride to the public water supply.

Public health officials encourage communities to fluoridate their water to protect children's teeth against decay, but some critics, including Leonidas, say the additive is now present in so many prepared foods and drinks that public water fluoridation should be discontinued to prevent overloading youngsters..........

Bad teeth at the school of rot

By DAVID WOODING
Whitehall Editor
Published: Today
THOUSANDS of kids start school with bad teeth because parents cannot find NHS dentists, it emerged yesterday.
Shocking new figures showed the UK’s dental health has stalled with a quarter of five-year-olds having at least two decayed, filled or missing teeth.
Children living in Manchester, Nottingham, Blackburn and Liverpool’s Knowsley area are worst with an average of THREE rotten molars.
Experts blamed the shortage of NHS dentists and a lack of campaigns promoting tooth health.
And they said standards will slump even further in the wake of the botched NHS contract which has seen 900,000 fewer Britons having check-ups since many dentists went private.
Dr Susie Sanderson, executive chairman of the British Dental Association, called the situation “desperate” and warned: “We cannot let this get worse.”
Nine years ago Labour promised to give all patients access to NHS dentists.
But 46 per cent of people have not seen one in the past two years.
Tories predicted dental “catastrophe”.
Shadow Health Minister Mike Penning said: “Labour’s neglect will have a devastating effect on the dental health of our children. There has been no effort to promote oral hygiene beyond what toothpaste companies have done.”
Health Minister Ann Keen insisted there was “absolutely no relationship” between the level of decay in kids and the number of dentists in areas.
She said: “Tooth decay is caused by sugar in the diet. It is prevented by the appropriate use of a fluoride toothpaste, improving the diet, and where appropriate fluoridating the water.”

Keep your smile bright by sipping right drinks

Keep your smile bright by sipping right drinks
Aug 18, 2008 @ 12:00 AM
By BY MICHAEL ROIZEN
The Herald-Dispatch
Love coffee and tea, but afraid they may be trashing your teeth? No worries. Sure, they leave stains, but sports drinks and bubbly sodas actually wear away enamel -- even from teeth that have been coated with fluoride.

If your tooth enamel starts to erode, you've got trouble. It's basically like opening the door to a whole village of bacterial squatters who will severely ding up and maybe even total the teeth they take over. In one study, all carbonated drinks had some impact on tooth enamel, but citrus-flavored sodas -- those innocent-looking clear beverages -- and sports drinks hit teeth hardest. Root beer, for some reason, had the mildest effect.

Surprisingly, it didn't matter if the drinks were diet or loaded with sugar. That's because there are tougher tooth troublemakers in a can of soda: acids. How much and what kinds of acid are in a drink determine how strongly it attacks your choppers -- look for names like phosphoric, citric, malic and tartaric on labels. They're enamel's worst nightmare.

You can minimize some of the damage by sipping a gotta-have-it afternoon Diet Coke through a straw -- if you put the tip of the straw near the back of your mouth to decrease contact time between your teeth and the acids. But be sure to keep it there. Letting the straw sit just past your lips may increase exposure (and damage). Rinsing with water after sipping a soda may help flush out the acids. But simply drinking water instead -- or a cuppa joe if it's caffeine you're after -- is a smarter choice

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Southampton fluoridation nemesis

The councils cannot say no to fluoridation neither can the water companies and we are left with a consultation that dictates the rules of who can object to fluoridation and whose objections will be counted! The following is a letter from the SCSHA outlining the rules governing the consultation. This is like David and Goliarth but David has both hands tied.


The independent process for analysing and evaluating the responses to the consultation will be carried out in line with the Water Fluoridation (Consultation) (England) Regulations 2005 which state:
“A Strategic Health Authority shall not proceed with any step regarding fluoridation arrangements that falls within section 89(2) of the Act unless, having regard to the extent of support for the proposal and the cogency of the arguments advanced, the Authority are satisfied that the health arguments in favour of proceeding with the proposal outweigh all arguments against proceeding.”
In terms of responses to the consultation, the Chief Dental Officer at the Department of Health set out guidance earlier this year. It is from this guidance which we base our interpretation of the word cogency. Specifically the guidance states:
“Given that the Consultation Regulations require SHAs to take account of the cogency of the representations and their relevance to the ‘health arguments’, a SHA cannot base its decision solely on a simple count of the representations for or against the proposal. In weighing the cogency of the responses SHAs will need to consider if they are evidence-based and, if so:

The quality of the evidence;
The relevance of the representations to the health arguments in relation to fluoridation; and
The nature of the individual/body making the representations”
Arguments, therefore, should not only be forceful, but also relevant to the issue backed by robust peer-reviewed scientific evidence that can be referenced and quoted.
Olga Senior
Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs

Mike Rivero interviews Mary Sparrowdancer 1 of 3

USA - Lack of fluoride in Sea Isle water has some gritting their teeth

Lack of fluoride in Sea Isle water has some gritting their teeth
By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, 609-463-6713
Published: Saturday, August 16, 2008
SEA ISLE CITY - Fluoride, the chemical sometimes added to public drinking water to help prevent tooth decay, has some in Sea Isle City not smiling. Or, rather, the lack of fluoride in the water is what's leaving a sour taste in the mouth of some residents.
The city quietly stopped the practice at least eight years ago. But officials didn't tell the public about its removal for four years, even though voters approved fluoridation in a 1990 referendum.
Now, some residents are renewing their call for the city to reinstate fluoride treatment.
Among them is Bob Lynch, a member of the citizen's watchdog group Town Watch/ Town Pride.
Lynch discovered the lack of fluoride in the water in 2004, after his dentist told him of a rumor around the city that the treatments had stopped.
"Fluoride is a failure of the city of Sea Isle to the people," Lynch said.
It jeopardized the dental health of residents who might have forgone other treatments - such as taking fluoride pills - had they known fluoride was no longer in the water supply, Lynch said.
Sea Isle City dentist Dr. Mark Sisko recently wrote City Council voicing his support for fluoride.
The five-member City Council, which took office last July after a change of government, is waiting for an estimate of how much fluoridation will cost before they act.
Administrator George Savastano said the city is gathering information and costs on what it will take to reintroduce fluoride into the city's water supply. This would include training staff on how to handle the chemical.
"I think we're taking a serious look at it," City Council President John Divney said.
Fluoridation was discussed last year as the city planned its capital budget for 2008 but was not included at the time, Divney said.
In 2005, the former Sea Isle City Commission indicated that adding fluoride would cost $305,000, the majority of which stemmed from new regulations regarding how the chemicals had to be stored.
Fluoride is naturally present in all water, but fluoridation adds to the concentration, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The fluoridation system was disconnected by September 2000, according to a letter former City Commissioner Angela Dalrymple sent Thomas Henry, of the Sea Isle City Taxpayers Association, in November 2004.
One of the city's wells was undergoing systems upgrades and was turned off at the time; two others were experiencing problems and were disconnected, according to the memo.
In 2005, Dalrymple said the fluoridation system grew unsafe after a broken tube splattered the chemicals, which in condensed form are toxic.
The systems were not repaired, and the public was not informed of the discontinuation until almost four years later.
In the meantime, regulations on how chemicals such as fluoride need to be stored became more stringent, requiring construction of secure holding areas.
"For the first time, I believe we will get this on track. I think the past history is sad, but it's past," Lynch said.

UK - Three rotten teeth by the age of five

Three rotten teeth by the age of five
Thousands of children are starting school with three rotten teeth as improvements in child dental health have stalled, new figures reveal.

By Laura Donnelly, Health CorrespondentLast Updated: 9:54PM BST 16 Aug 2008
After decades of improvements, progress has stopped since 1999, leaving the average child with 1.5 rotten teeth by the age of just five, according to the new statistics. But in several towns and major cities the average is twice as high.
The British Dental Association said the figures painted a "desperate" picture and warned that the situation was likely to worsen due to a botched NHS contract, which had left hundreds of thousands of families struggling to find a dentist.
The figures, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, show that a quarter of children starting school have at least two teeth which are decayed, missing or filled. Children living in Blackburn, Nottingham, Manchester and Knowsley have the worst teeth, with an average of three rotten teeth by the age of five.
Experts say a shortage of NHS dentists, and a lack of campaigns promoting dental health mean improvements in children's teeth have now stalled. The figures for 2005/2006 emerged as the Government is this week due to issue a report showing the number of dentists who have left the NHS since the introduction of a new contract two years ago. Statistics published in June have already shown that almost 900,000 fewer Britons have seen a dentist since the deal came in.
Experts warned that the number of young children with missing teeth or mouths full of fillings was likely to rise, as the targets set by the contract encourage dentists to focus on basic treatment, such as removing or filling teeth, instead of complex work or prevention of tooth decay.
Dr Susie Sanderson, executive chairman of the British Dental Association, said: "It really is a desperate situation when we have got parts of the country where the average five-year-old has lost three teeth. We cannot afford to let this get worse". Without changes to the contract, the impact on children would be "potentially devastating", she said. Nine years ago, Labour pledged to give all patients access to an NHS dentist by 2001. Statistics now show just 54 per cent of people have seen one within the past two years.
The shadow health minister, Mike Penning, uncovered the latest Department of Health figures, which show that children living in Blackburn, Nottingham, Manchester and Knowsley have the worst teeth. "Under this Government there has been no effort to promote oral hygiene, beyond what the toothpaste companies have done," he said. "The worst thing is, these figures don't even show the damage caused by the new contract; my fear is that we are looking at a catastrophe within a decade."
Ann Keen, the health minister, said there was no relationship between shortages of dentists and the level of tooth decay among five-year-olds. She said the use of fluoride toothpastes and a good diet were the key to the problem, and highlighted a national scheme giving free toothpaste to children in the most deprived areas.

UK - I repeat, we do not want flouridation

I repeat, we do not want flouridation
The prospect of Gordon Brown's New Labour Government using £400million of our money raises the ugly head of fluoridation again in the face of enormous I repeat, we do not want flouridation
Published Date: 16 August 2008
By staff
The prospect of Gordon Brown's New Labour Government using £400million of our money raises the ugly head of fluoridation again in the face of enormous opposition?
He knows our famous democratic process of voting will fail him every time, so he intends to use his favourite weapon the ‘consultation process’ - the magic tool for getting whatever they want, when they want, how they want, regardless of the cost to integrity, democracy, common sense and general public health.The country has said time and time again for over 40 years that it does not want dangerous toxic poisons, upon which he will not conduct independent and scientific testing for efficacy and safety, pouring into our water supply.Gordon should visit the following sites: Australian Fluoridation news (www.glenwalker.net/), American Fluoridation news (www.fluoridealert.org/fluoridation.htm) and English Fluoridation news (www.npwa.freeserve.co.uk/).

Saturday, August 16, 2008

UK - 'Mass Medication' Back With Fluoride

'Mass Medication' Back With Fluoride
Posted on: Friday, 15 August 2008, 03:00 CDT
By dave blackhurst
Dental experts are reviving their efforts to add fluoride to North Staffordshire's drinking water.

They have commissioned a feasibility study from Severn Trent to see if the chemical can be added and how much it will cost. Previous attempts to add fluoride have been ditched because of protests, technical difficulties and wrangles between public bodies. The results of the study should be available by the end of the year. The plan is included in a five-year strategy - Improving Oral Health - published by Stoke-on-Trent Primary Care Trust.

Any scheme would need to be adopted across North Staffordshire bringing it in line with the rest of the West Midlands where 80 per cent of the population drink water with fluoride added at one part per million.

But John Davis, chairman of Stoke-on-Trent City Council's consumer protection committee, pictured, said: "If the PCT tries to go ahead with this mass medication, they will meet opposition."

Tooth decay is so bad in the Potteries that by their fifth birthday, 46 per cent of children can expect to have had four teeth extracted or filled. That puts the area in the worst five of 30 West Midlands health districts with the northern half of the city at the bottom of the league.

Kate Taylor-Weetman, dental public health consultant for the city, said: "Many of these children will have suffered pain and discomfort as a result of tooth decay.

"For these, their first experience of dental care will have been extraction under general anaesthetic."

Just five million people in England and Wales regularly come into contact with fluoride. Following the feasibility study, West Midlands Strategic Health Authority would have to carry out a public consultation.

If approved, PCTs would pay the running costs of treatment schemes with plant installation and equipment funded by the NHS capital programme.

Dr Taylor-Weetman said: "The PCT needs to consider all the options."

Attempts to add fluoride date back to the 1970s but failed because of protests about health risks and wrangling between the NHS and water companies over indemnity in case of side-effects. Difficulties also arose because North Staffordshire's supply comes from bore holes in the water table.
Comment: Page 10
(c) 2008 Sentinel, The (Stoke-on-Trent UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
Source: Sentinel, The (Stoke-on-Trent UK)

UK - Pendle Council 'no' to fluoride in tap water

Pendle Council 'no' to fluoride in tap water
PENDLE Council should follow its policy of previous decades and keep fluoride out of our water, say members.
The recommendation, to be forwarded to the full council, was made by the council's Scrutiny and Overview Committee after a 90-minute debate.

In favour of fluoridation was Dr Ellis Friedman, of the Primary Care Trust, who said despite sustained effort, expertise and money spent on dental education and other aspects of dental health, health professionals were failing in the fight against tooth decay in children.

A survey of five-year-olds in the North West in 2005/6 showed nearly half the children had an average of two decayed, missing or filled teeth - higher than the rest of England. The figure for East Lancashire was worse and Pendle was sixth from the bottom of the entire survey with 54% of five-year-olds having or having had dental caries in an average of 2·53 teeth.

The only proven, safe answer, insisted Dr Friedman, was the introduction of fluoride into water. Next month, Primary Care Trust chief officers from all over the North West will meet to discuss strategies to consult "key stakeholders", which include local councils.

However Friends of the Earth representative Mr Brian Jackson, of Winewall, said he intended to demolish the doctor's arguments.

Hydrofluosilic acid, he said, was listed under the Poisons Act 1972 and would be added to our water. It was a waste by-product of the aluminium and pesticides industries and caused dental fluorosis, which stained and/or pitted teeth, leading to more dental problems. Research linked it to bladder cancer and other diseases. It was accumulative and was not a qualified success in the long-term arrest of caries.

Mr Jackson argued the real reasons for the high evidence of caries could lie with parents not teaching their children how to look after their teeth, poor dental education, wrong diet - and a lack of access to NHS dentists. His views were shared by Coun. Gary Bird, who felt the answers laid with more dentists and better education.

Coun. Maureen Bell said it was unethical to add fluoride to the water.
Coun. Chris Tennant said he worked in animal husbandry and a medical claim was being made which would not be allowed in the animal health industry. Couns Howard Thomas and Smith Benson said the fluoride debate had been going on for decades in Pendle. Coun. Thomas considered they should stay with the old decision not to allow fluoridation but Coun. Benson said he would like to know more about these future consultations.