Water fluoridation is a subject that excites at least as much passion as mercury fillings. And it’s another area where science seems to be slowly backing up what those who have been trying to stop the activity have been saying. But most people pay scant attention and probably consider the anti-fluoridation people to be extremists or wackos. However, if you take a look at what they’re saying, it makes a lot of sense. To start with, why do we add fluoride to water? Do we swallow our toothpaste? So why is it now ok to ingest something that’s only supposedly good for our teeth? I say supposedly because it’s never been proven to actually reduce the incidence of cavities.

And I don’t know about you, but I don’t chew my water. I wonder how much of the fluoride actually touches my teeth. I guess it does because over thirty percent of the kids in the US have fluorosis. Did you know that the fluoride that’s added to water is a waste product of phosphate plants? Worst of all, if you’d rather not drink water with this stuff in it, you need to spend big bucks on a water distiller or reverse osmosis purifier, because the typical carbon block filter most people have won’t remove fluoride.

Earlier I stated that there’s no proof that fluoride actually prevents cavities. This is where the fluoride proponents alway whip out the charts showing the downward trend in cavities that’s occurred since water fluoridation began. The thing that their charts don’t show, however, is that the incidence of cavities has declined everywhere at that same rate, not just in places where the water is fluoridated. You can compare cities or states in the USA, or even countries, and the rate of dental caries declines similarly everywhere regardless of whether the water was fluoridated.

So it seems to me that the prudent thing to do would be to stop pumping this poison (read what your toothpaste tube says about the fluoride it contains) into our water supply. Some people think it’s an economic justice issue because poor people who can’t afford professional tooth care can get the benefits of fluoride. Well, if local governments are convinced that said benefits actually exist, then they can spend the money they now spend on water fluoridation to distribute fluoride mouthwash based on financial need. But stop forcing a medication/poison (choose your definition, either way it’s at the very least unethical) on the rest of us.

Here’s a video that shows how a former proponent of fluoridation came to change his views:

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