I was present during the recent Wellington Village Council meeting at which five people decided to begin adding fluoride to the public drinking water supply here in Wellington, again. Consider how it is that five people are vested with the power to decree that well over 60,000 residents must, once again, ingest or absorb added amounts of fluoride with every drink of water, cup of coffee, morning shower, etc.
Interestingly, the council meeting was packed with dentists from Wellington and surrounding towns who all praised fluoride for its ability to fight dental caries (it supposedly helps prevent cavities in children’s teeth). I couldn’t help but wonder what (or who) mobilized such a confluence of dentists. They were clearly organized to act as a unit to shut down any opposition and to force this dangerous and poisonous chemical down our collective (albeit uneducated) throats. It smelled fishy, and I wonder why it would be so very important to these dentists to tear themselves away from their oddly scheduled dental surgeries (some still clad in scrubs at 9 p.m. in the evening?). The only thing that I could come up with was that many dentists are so entrenched in their own rhetoric that they refuse to consider the possibility that what they’ve been advocating for all these years may indeed harbor a very real “downside.”
Space does not permit me to list all of the many health and safety “concerns” raised by water fluoridation. It’s important to know what you are putting into your body, and you’ve got to hear all sides in order to form an educated opinion. I implore you to take a moment to simply review with an open mind the information presented at www.fluoridealert.org. Even if you discount fully half of what you read on that web site, you must still concede that there remains more than sufficient evidence to make one run the other way when offered the option of adding more fluoride into drinking water. Yes, even if you choose to “poo-poo” the studies suggesting that fluoridation increases one’s chances for bone fractures, certain cancers and brain damage, consider this… most European countries do not add fluoride to their water. There is a movement to stop fluoridation here as well. Palm Beach Gardens and Boca Raton have banned the addition of fluoride to their water. The harm and potential for harm simply outweigh any perceived value. Fluoride accumulates in the body and it is entering our bodies from many sources, including many foods and nearly all toothpastes. Just read the label on your tube of toothpaste to see the poison warning label! There is good reason for that warning label. Why would you choose to increase the amount you take into your body?
I suggest that those who feel the need for more fluoride should simply brush their teeth more often. But please don’t assume that you have a right, or worse yet, a moral obligation, to add it to my family’s water supply. And it’s not just the water we drink… it’s the water we cook with, swim in, shower with. I certainly pity the unaware mother who regularly bathes her small children in a tub full of fluoridated bath water!
This unanimous council vote is a travesty. A five-member council should not have the power to “drug” 60,000 people with a toxic chemical based upon it’s equivocal effect upon dental caries. Increasing fluoride for one’s dental health (by the way, this in itself is in question by some) must remain an individual decision. In a worst case scenario, this should be decided by public referendum in the voting booth. Anything less is tantamount to tyranny. Remember, if you don’t demand change, you won’t get change.
Dr. Elliott Krakow, Wellington
From watching this “event” on the internet, it became clear to me that fluoridation proponents were extremely well organized, advised what to wear, they had buttons and signs. They had already misinformed the legislators privately that those opposed to fluoridation were misguided. Residents were NOT told a vote would be taken. The few who actually knew a meeting was happening tried in vain to counter the years-long efforts of the Florida group which has been strategizing for years to implement and protect fluoridation in Florida. Clearly these legislators were impressed with credentials and titles because most of what they heard from fluoridationists simply isn’t true. But that’s not to say that most of those who spoke in favor of fluoridation weren’t speaking from the heart. Fluoridation is based on belief is revealed in a Dental Textbook by dental researchers Burt and Eklund http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fluoridation-based-on-belief-not-science-says-dentist-textbook-71697127.html
Probably most, if not all of them, have not objectively reviewed the current science indicating that ingested fluoride doesn’t reduce tooth decay. However, ingested fluoride leads to adverse effects, according to the CDC. Many dentists are not up to speed on current fluoride science as many studies indicate e.g. this one by Yoder http://tinyurl.com/Yoder and as evidenced by several fluoridation proponents at this meeting who espoused outdated science.
But the icing on the cake was the evidence which shows an extremely high rate of tooth decay in fluoridated Collier County. The comment “can you imagine how high it would be without fluoridation” really blew my mind. Studies actually show that when fluoridation ends tooth decay either goes down or stays the same.
If tooth decay is 100% preventable as organized dentistry tells us, how come it’s at epidemic proportions in the US after 71 years of fluoridation, 61 years of fluoridated toothpaste, a glut of fluoridated dental products (and in higher concentrations, a fluoride-saturated food supply and fluoride containing medicines.
And why were urine and blood fluoride levels tested before these 5 non-medically trained legislators decided their constituents need even more fluoride then they are getting from their diet and dental products – especially the low income residents who generally suffer the most from fluoride toxicity.
Good point. they also made council terms longer to be sitting up there.Lets go back to a 2 year and we can make change faster, if we don’t like who’s up there.