WHY DO WE NEED FLUORIDE ADDED TO OUR WATER SUPPLY?

Why do we need fluoride in every single ml of water supplied to our community when the only target organ for this synthetic additive is the teeth of a segment of the population? Not every single ml of water supplied to our households is ingested, and not every single ml of water that we ingest will benefit the health of our teeth (IF we have them or IF we even need additional assistance with dental health). Has the ecological impact of introducing truck loads of fluoride into the water supply been studied in terms of all the other parts of the local environment that will receive this additive?

Research has been conducted in Geelong which showed that topical therapy was more effective than water fluoridation (Economic Evaluation of Dental Sealant and Fluoride mouth rinsing program in Two Non-Fluoridated Regions of Victoria. June, 1996. Crowley S, MSc, MBA, Morgan M, BDS, PhD, Wright C, BDS, PhD.) In the study those in a fluoridated region had 1.1 less dental caries than those in the non-fluoridated region, and when topical therapy was applied the gain was 1.22 less dental caries – 11% more effective by my calculations.

Which raises another point – why do we have to expose every man, woman, child, infant, fetus, dog and plant to this stuff when the net gain is one less decayed tooth per person? Sounds like pretty poor efficacy to me. Maybe if the truck loads of processed sugar finding their way into our food and beverage supply chain and school canteens were reduced the net dental health gains would be noticeably superior?

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?