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The Forum > Article Comments > To fluoridate or not to fluoridate > Comments

To fluoridate or not to fluoridate : Comments

By Anne Matthews-Frederick, published 23/10/2008

With the benefit of hindsight some places are moving to defluoridate their water while South East Queensland pushes ahead.

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It's amazing what fluoride does to the brain, e.g. "I had fluoride tablets when I was a kid - I've got good teeth - therefore fluoride works".

Well, that's not scientific evidence and it is very poor logic.

The "Child Dental Health Survey - Queensland" advises that over 50 percent of Queensland children have perfect teeth, and this is without fluoridation. This survey also shows that the non-fluoridated Brisbane North District children, have better teeth than the fluoridated Townsville District children.

The recently published "National Survey of Adult Oral Health - 2004-06", shows the long term effect of tooth decay. It outlines the Decayed,Missing,Filled,Teeth (DMFT) rate from each State. thus:
QLD...13.1 teeth
NSW...12.8 teeth
VIC...12.8 teeth
SA....12.7 teeth
WA....13.1 teeth
TAS...13.4 teeth

Now, logic tells me that they are all the same, whether fluoridated or non-fluoridated, so water fluoridation has no long term effect on teeth.

Being called a "nut-case" or "scarmonger" or "flat-Earther" only pushes me on to dig up more facts. I believe the "nut cases" are the people that don't do the research and blindly believe that fluoride is the magic bullet.(Have you written your letter to Santa yet).
Posted by rockabillykilla, Saturday, 25 October 2008 12:53:27 PM
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Benjamin Disraeli supposedly said “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." He was referring to the use of the persuasive power of numbers to bolster weak arguments. Given that not all communities in other Australian states have fluoridated water and some communities in Queensland do, comparing overall Queensland statistics with those for other states is rather meaningless.

Fortunately for you, a comprehensive recent publication called “Water fluoridation and children’s dental health: The Child Dental Health Survey, Australia 2002” http://www.arcpoh.adelaide.edu.au/publications/report/statistics/html_files/cdhs2002.pdf looks at the comparison in detail between children in communities with adequate fluoride in their water (ether natural or through amendment) with those in communities with inadequate fluoride found: “children from areas where drinking water contained negligible fluoride had poorer dental health than did children from areas with either naturally or artificially fluoridated water”.

For example, the report found for 7 year olds across Australia those living in communities with inadequate fluoride in water had 65% more DFM teeth than those living in communities with adequate fluoride in water. For permanent teeth, the data comparison was almost as damming. 12 year old children from communities with inadequate fluoride in water had 50% more DFM adult teeth than 12 year old children from communities with adequate fluoridation. The differences persisted even across metropolitan and remote communities and across socio-economic classes.

So, like in communities elsewhere, there is evidence from Australia that fluoride in toothpaste alone is not sufficient to provide adequate protection from tooth decay.
Posted by Agronomist, Saturday, 25 October 2008 1:36:36 PM
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Dear Agronomist:
1. The point of the article is how much fluoride is all right.
The correct level has nothing to do with the stats you quote. If you have fluorosis, you have had too much fluoride.
2. If water fluoridation is supposed to be so vital in preventing cavities in the teeth of those who cannot afford toothpaste or brush properly, why are the queues to see the Dental clinics so long?
3. Salt fluoridation is not mandatory. Our fluoridation is.

Dear Floatinglili:
1. Wrong - the fluoride we add to our water supply IS NOT NATURAL. It really is manufactured by industry ie it is not a naturally occurring product.
Perhaps you read on the Australian Dental Association website, 'Fluoride is a naturally occurring substance'. A true statement, however the ADA does not say the naturally occurring substance goes into our water.
PS. There is a rumour some dentists do NOT agree with water fluoridation
Posted by WWG, Saturday, 25 October 2008 3:42:06 PM
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WWG - buy a filter.
Opt out, and leave the rest of us to also make the safest choices for our kids.

The system should be opt out, as fluoride tablets are not as effective, and are more likely to have the annoying side effects such as spotting on the teeth. Overdosing is more likely in a system where you must remember to regularly dose yourself.

In so many places in the world, bottled/filtered water is the norm in any case. It need not be a significant cost to you to avoid fluoride, if it is something of a priority.

I care about my children's health, and, as with penicillin, modern anaesthetics and key-hole surgery, I am positive about the breakthroughs that the modern medical research process has given us.

Therefore, I support fluoride in the water supplies where it is not naturally occurring, as it supplies people with genuine choice!
Posted by floatinglili, Saturday, 25 October 2008 6:07:22 PM
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"Therefore, I support fluoride in the water supplies where it is not naturally occurring, as it supplies people with genuine choice!"

That's a rather esoteric statement floatinglili. Fluoridated drinking water actually prevents people from "genuine choice." Fluoridated drinking water guarantees that much of the commercially grown or prepared food and beverages will contain fluoride.

And to believe that regulators can be trusted to accurately add (or assess) safe levels of fluoride to scheme water is naive indeed.

And are you insisting floatinglili that the non-believers must resort to watering their home-grown fruit and vegies with bottled or filtered water?

Apart from the scheme water, the absorptions or inhalations of hydrogen fluoride from aluminium smelting plants, ceramic tile and pipe plants, clay brick manufacturing, phosphate fertiliser manufacturing, petroleum refining etc increases the potential for exposure to a real toxic soup of fluoride.

Industrial fluorine is damaging vegetation, trees and crops around the planet and animals are even more susceptible to fluoride than humans.

Should you ever peruse the emissions' reports pertaining to the above industries in Australia, you would find that the internationally recommended maximum safe levels for hazardous emissions are breached 24/7 which regulators continue to ignore.

Brickworks and alumina plants in Australia are notorious for their excessively high emissions of fluoride.

The evidence pertaining to the health and environmental impacts of fluoride pollution destroys any argument for further contaminating humans (or the planet) with fluoridated scheme water which, in addition to fluoride, is already heavily laced with disinfectants etc - not least chlorine - a reactive, lethal and insidious carcinogen and endocrine disruptor.

"I am positive about the breakthroughs that the modern medical research process has given us."

Excellent floatinglilli. You would therefore feel very confident in consulting your pharmacist about the most effective fluoride tablets available for you and your family (providing they're in agreement of course!)

Cheers
Posted by dickie, Saturday, 25 October 2008 9:12:58 PM
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Re: flaotinglilli's statement - "Fluoride is a substance which naturally occurs in some water supplies... it's not an artificial industrial waste product!"

Please contact Victoria's Health Department which when asked at our public meeting, confirmed that Victoria's source of fluoride for fluoridation is Geelong's Incitec Pivot fertiliser factory, where the fluoride is reclaimed from smoke stacks by 'scrubbers'. It is recycled industrial waste. Fact.

Re: Choice Magazine. Choice claims to be objective, but their fluoridation 'article' was short on facts and the conclusions are only the subjective opinion of the author. I cancelled my subscription to Choice as a result.

I think it's odd that fluoridation pushers resort to name-calling anyone who stands up for their rights and who objects to drinking chemicals they don't want. I guess some people must succumb to the brainwashing that goes with forcibly adding unnecessary chemicals to the population's drinking water.

Deb
Posted by NoFluoride, Sunday, 26 October 2008 12:54:26 AM
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