Juneau water fluoridation on the ballot

Mon, October 1, 2007
Posted in Alaska News, Top Stories

If money talks, then the most controversial item on Juneau’s October ballot is Proposition 2. It aims to put fluoride back in Juneau’s drinking water. The Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) reports that supporters of fluoridation have accumulated $164,000 in contributions, mostly from the Chicago-based American Dental Association (ADA). Fluoride opponents have raised only $5,000, but they have flooded Juneau newspapers with letters to the editor.

Water fluoridation — Wikipedia

John Ryan, KTOO - Juneau

Standard Podcast [5:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Comments

2 Comments to “Juneau water fluoridation on the ballot”

mpb on October 1, 2007 at 7:22 pm

There are a couple of things that should be established in discourse because they are established in fact–

* Caries is an infection, possibly the most prevalent in the world. Untreated caries can make it difficult for children to learn to speak their language properly and will affect the further development of their face. Infections of the gums can spread throughout the body via the bloodstream (true of adults and children)

* Fluoride does reduce the prevalence of caries, especially when added to municipal water systems (this is tested, not a belief as Wikipedia suggests). Fluoride alone will not prevent all tooth infections.

The rate at which water can be safely supplemented has been known for some time (there was a major international conference on Developmental Defects of Enamel, T. W. Cuttress, organizer, in 1988 which covered every aspect of this imaginable). Incidents of extreme fluorosis (essentially hypergrowth of brittle bones) are exceedingly rare (few villages in a region in Iran from naturally occurring fluoride). Incidents of tooth mottling do occur from naturally elevated levels of fluoride, from faulty water treatment, from use of bottled supplements in addition, from allowing children to swallow fluoridated toothpaste in addition, etc.

The relation of environment, geochemistry, and health must be balanced. I’ve forgotten the John Birch Society arguments against water treatment, but if I never have to see again the boards used to tie children down for dental treatments and the painful lung and ear infections it will not be too soon.
John Proffitt on October 2, 2007 at 12:49 pm

For the record, we received another comment about this story, making several unsubstantiated claims about dentists, political influence, dangers of fluoride, etc. While most of the comment was a screed, there was one fluoride opposition web site worth mentioning:

Fluoride Action Network
http://www.fluoridealert.org/

If you’re opposed to fluoridation, this is one of the places to go. And if you’re in favor of fluoridation, you should know what the opposition is saying.