This guest column is in response to an article published in the Friday, June 1 edition of The Wilson Post, in which local dentist, Dr. Chad Williams said he will be contacting other dentists to begin a campaign to add fluoride to the local water supply. You may read that article by clicking here.

I read with great concern the article about a Lebanon dentist who wants to put fluoride back into the water. The first thing I would like to point out is that fluoride is NOT a nutrient. The fluoride that is typically used for water fluoridation is hydrofluorosilicic acid, not the pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride that is used in toothpaste, but rather the toxic waste straight from the scrubbers of phosphate plants with all of its other toxins such as arsenic, lead, and mercury. It's too toxic to release into the air or rivers, yet okay to put in our drinking water. It doesn't pass the common sense test. 

Supporters of fluoridation always refer to "research" that shows fluoride to be safe and effective, yet in the 10 years that I have been studying fluoride I have yet to see this research. They always refer to the "York Review," however, Dr.Trevor Sheldon, the founding director of the center that actually did the study, said that the review did not show water fluoridation to be safe. In 2006 the National Research Council released a report that also found the levels of fluoride used at that time not only to be unsafe, but potentially harmful to diabetics and kidney patients as well as other groups of people.

Research has shown fluoride to be a neurotoxin capable of interfering with basic brain cell function especially in babies whose blood brain barrier has yet to develop. The ADA, the CDC, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all warned parents not to use fluoridated water when mixing infant formula, which most likely already has fluoride in it, for babies under 6 months. And what about when we bathe our children...how much are they absorbing then? Wonder why the ADA hasn't researched that? The makers of toothpaste all warn that if more than a "pea" size amount is swallowed, to contact the poison control center, yet the same amount of fluoride is found in an 8 ounce glass of fluoridated water. 

The most obvious concern is the increase in fluorosis in our children from 33 percent just a few years ago to over 40 percent now. Fluorosis starts out as bright white spots or stains which tend to turn tan or brown as we age. It is a very visible sign that kids are getting too much fluoride and we would be very foolish to think that the teeth are the only place where this damage is occurring. Some proponents of fluoridation say this is only cosmetic and can be easily fixed. Have you priced "cosmetic" dentistry lately? Certainly not something that lower income families can afford. Skeletal fluorosis is a concern for our elderly population as well as dementia both related to excess fluoride. Most people don't realize that we get excess fluoride from drinking tea, eating canned pineapple, or canned chicken, not to mention the Teflon we cook in or that stain resistant coating on our carpets. Many pesticides have some form of fluoride, as well as many prescription drugs. Who is adding up these sources? 

One thing most agencies agree on is that the main benefit of fluoride comes from topical use, not systemic. By putting it in our water, 95 percent of it goes down the drain. Studies with cattle, horses, and dogs have all shown it to be toxic and even fatal in some cases with links to cancer in animals and osteosarcoma in teenage boys. Most countries in Europe have stopped adding fluoride to their water primarily because they consider it a drug and have concerns with medicating an entire population without regard to need, size, or age, not to mention the effects on our environment from a toxic form of fluoride. 

If some dentists are concerned about a lack of fluoride (mine is not), then maybe we should look at spending our taxpayer dollars on toothpaste or some other source of fluoride, instead of forcing it on an entire population who may or may not want it. It's very easy to put it in, but extremely difficult and expensive to remove.

Dolores Mackey  
Mt. Juliet