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Fluoride Questions To Ask Your Dentist

FFom Citizens for Safe Drinking H2O

Subject: Herald Journal Online Edition - Wednesday, June 7, 2000

(The following is an excerpt from the referenced issue of the Herald Journal and can be found on-line in their archives at www.hjnews.com.)

To the Editor:

Questions to ask your dentist:

1. If fluoride is considered safe, why is there a poison warning on the back of my toothpaste tube?

2 What is the definition of "safe"? How much is too much, and how can I tell?

3. Can you give me a reference to a scientific study which shows the safety of fluoridation using tap water?

4. How does fluoride affect my organs and brain?

5. How much water should I drink daily to get the optimum dose? What if I'm still thirsty?

6. When I add up my toothpaste, dentifrices, food and beverages and water what will my total exposure be?

7. Where can I find a list that shows the amounts in various foods?

8. Is fluoride recommended by the ADA for infants? Does the ADA say it's OK for my baby's formula to be mixed with fluoridated water?

9. Where does the fluoride that is put into my water come from? Is it pharmaceutical grade or are there other substances in the compound, and if so, what are they? Where can I find an official listing of this?

10. Lots of people say that teeth in Brigham City or other fluoridated communities are better than in other cities. Where are the published reports that prove it?

11. Is there a nationwide survey that shows the ratio of dentists in fluoridated cities versus non-fluoridated cities?

12. What is the national average cost of dental care in fluoridated versus non-fluoridated communities?

13. In 1993 the Public Health Service warned that fluoridation leads to a variety of health issues to certain groups of people. Who do they say is affected and how?

14. If I have health consequences from city fluoridated water who will pay for my health problems? Why do some people raised in fluoridated communities have rotten teeth?

15. Some say that fluoride can increase lead in the brain, increases cancers or that it increases hip fractures to post-menopausal women. Where are the studies that prove those claims false?

If the above questions can't be answered by your dentist then how much do they really know about fluoride? A December 1999 letter from the California Board of Dental Examiners stated that "effects of ingested fluoride are not within the purview of dentistry." No matter how well intentioned your dentist is, his/her opinion is no more "expert" than yours or mine, unless they have pursued that specific expertise. Precious few have.

Your dentist will likely tell you of all the organizations that endorse fluoridation. Recommendations don't constitute evidence in a court of law, facts do. Ask 'em to show you the proof.

Walt Appel

The Herald Journal:

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