Virginia Dep't of Health Report Doubts Fluoridation Safety

In 1980 the Virginia Department of Health asked toxicologist Brian Dementi. PhD, to review the available literature relating to the health effects of fluoride.  Dementi concluded: “With regard to fluoridation, this writer is of the opinion that the evidence of adverse health effects is of such magnitude and human beings so varied in their individual constitution, state of health at any moment, eating and drinking habits, etc., that it is inappropriate to say that fluoridation is a totally healthful and safe practice for all."

Further, Dementi writes, "Widespread exposure to fluoride coupled with an inadequate data base substantiating it to be safe is a cause of great concern.  The public consumes fluoride from drinking water, tooth paste, mouth washes, etc. with little or no advice as to how much fluoride is enough or too much. The evidence as cited herein indicates some adverse health or metabolic effects right at, or very close to, the 1 ppm level, with no margin of safety respecting such effects established of the nature generally sought for toxic substances. It is possible that many individuals out of the large number consuming fluoridated water are suffering in varying degrees health detriment attributable to this recognized toxic substance.”  http://www.scribd.com/doc/16925697/Dementi-Fluoride-Report

Dementi writes, “Every effort has been made in this report to adhere to the ideal of presenting only scientific information and discussion pertaining to it. “

‘This report is not complete. The evaluation of the health effects of fluoride must continue as long as the substance is found in drinking water, tooth paste, mouth rinses, etc., and concern exists as to its safety.”

‘Furthermore, where the kidney is concerned persons with impaired kidney function may suffer from acute fluoride toxicity when consuming water containing as little as 2 ppm fluoride”

‘The finding of Hirata in Japan of a decrease in white blood corpuscles and neutrophils in children of prepuberty age, which was correlateable with the extent of dental mottling observed where the drinking water containing 1-5 ppm fluoride, is a serious and important finding.”

‘There is the added question of Down’s syndrome to be reckoned with. Work has been cited showing a dose related association between fluoride and the incidence of Down’s syndrome where fluoride levels in the drinking water ranged from 0.1 to 2.6 ppm. Though this work has been seriously criticized, the fact remains that no study satisfactorily refutes the findings. The possibility of a fluoride related increased incidence of Down’s syndrome remains.”

'Since it appears that a serious question remains concerning a possible causative relationship between fluoride ingestion and Down's syndrome, one would think that, in view of the widespread human exposure, efforts directed toward obtaining definitive results should have been undertaken or certainly should be in progress."

‘The Physicians Desk Reference (1979) indicates fluoride may cause a variety of symptoms such as skin eruptions, eczema, gastric distress, headache, weakness, etc. in hypersensitive individuals.”

' Out of 110 million persons consuming water containing fluoride, there may be many experiencing such symptoms who have no idea that fluoride in the drinking water may be the cause.”

"In discussing the effects of fluoride upon the kidney, it seems appropriate at this point to indicate that whereas the kidney fulfills the important task of removing toxic substances, such as fluoride, from the system.  There is the consequent danger of fluoride tintoxication in those individuals with impaired renal function who ingest fluoride...It is evident that fluoridated water poses an enhanced threat to those among the populace who have impaired kidney function."

"In referring to average blood fluoride levels little consideration is given to individuals who, for one or more of a variety of reasons, may have fluoride levels well above the average...Arguments such as these suggest that fluoride levels in the blood of a certain fraction of human drinking fluoridated water may be within the range where perturbation of DNA repair is manifest and that at some point in the time such perturbations may have serious consequence.

Fluoridation: Follow the Money, by Carol S. Kopf, BS, MA

Multi-billion dollar international conglomerates, which benefit from tooth decay and fluoride sales, pour money into organized dentistry, which is behind virtually every fluoridation initiative. Money makes dentistry politically powerful and enables them to get laws  passed to benefit dentists' bottom line. 

The American Dental Association (ADA), many of its over 250 constituent state and city  associations are  benefactors of corporate dollars along with other fluoridation-promoting dental groups, schools and organizations.

Dentists, inside and outside of government and industry, seem to have vast amounts of money and influence to promote fluoridation. Where does it come from?

The ADA and the ADA Foundation received over $28 million from pharmaceutical companies, dental equipment manufacturers and insurance companies, from 2006 – 2009, according to a January 20, 2010, letter from the ADA’s Chief Financial Officer to U.S. Senator Charles Grassley.

Grassley wants more accountability and transparency between the ADA and industry. The ADA didn’t comply with Grassley’s request to publish its corporate funders on its website. However, Grassley listed them on his own website http://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/about/upload/2011-05-04-CEG-Letter-to-American-Dental-Association.pdf

Fluoride-selling pharmaceutical giants listed include: Colgate, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, and others.

ADA’s Seal of Acceptance

Several companies on Grassley’s list paid a “Seal Program Maintenance Fee,” totaling $574,000 for four years (2006-2009). 

The ADA requires a one-time, non-refundable submission fee before reviewing over-the-counter products ($14,500 per product).  If given the ADA’s Seal of Acceptance, companies are required to pay an annual maintenance fee of $3,500 per product, according to Jan Lord, Manager, Acceptance Program, ADA’s Council on Scientific Affairs.

Approximately, 260 items appear on the ADA’s current Accepted “Shopping List.”   A large number are fluoride products.

More Legal Financial Exchanges between the ADA and Industry

Sometimes the ADA joins into “Cause-Related-Marketing” with for-profit companies. For example:  the William Wrigley Company agreed to donate a percentage of its ADA Accepted chewing gum products to the ADA’s Give Kids A Smile program, according to Guidelines Governing the American Dental Association’s Corporate Relationships. 

Wrigley paid the ADA $36,000 to review some of Wrigley’s sugar-free chewing gum studies to get the ADA’s Seal of Acceptance, according to CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta.  Gupta writes, “The ADA stands by its seal and told us any company can apply for the seal, as long as the company pays for it.

Johnson & Johnson gave $900,000 to fund the ADA’s annual session’s distinguished speaker series (2006-2009).

In 2007, Barbara Walters and Lance Armstrong Headlined the ADA’s Distinguished Speaker Series

Many prominent journalists and politicians have been paid to speak at ADA conventions. In 2013 former President Bill Clinton was the main event. Some might say it’s a good way to buy influence.

Colgate funds the ADA research institute newly renamed after dentist Anthony R. Volpe, who recently retired as Vice President of Clinical Research and Scientific Affairs at Colgate-Palmolive Company. 

Colgate’s Volpe and a Henry Schein, Inc. representative serve on the Board of Directors of Forsyth Institute which bills itself as “the only independent research institute in America specializing in oral health and its impact on overall wellness.” Forsyth is where Dr. Phyllis Mullenix’s research found that fluoride can cause brain deficits in rodents. Mullenix was fired for publishing her results in a peer-reviewed, respected journal, against the orders her Forsyth boss, explained in the first chapter of “The Fluoride Deception.”

Dental Schools are corporation-subsidized

Henry Schein, Inc.,the largest distributor of healthcare products and services to office-based practitioners gave the NYU Dental School a six figure gift in 2000 and a million dollars the year before.

The NYU Donor Honor Roll reveals that Colgate-Palmolive Company and Nobel Biocare USA, Inc gave from $1 to 4$ million (2011-2012).

Centers for Disease Control

If a community elects to stop fluoridation, invariably a dentist and his posse shows up intimidating them into re-starting fluoridation. As ammunition, they state that “CDC has recognized water fluoridation as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.”

That statement may sound impressive. However it was made by dental professionals within the CDC’s Oral Health Division, who are paid to promote fluoridation.  The CDC also says, “It is not CDC's task to determine what levels of fluoride in water are safe.”

The CDC’s Oral Health Division may be a stepping stone into a more lucrative career promoting fluoridation for outside interests. When forced to defend fluoridation with words and not hide behind catch-phrases and government credentials, two former CDC Oral Health Division Directors fell short.

a) Dentist William Kohn - Now with Delta Dental, a dental “insurance” company that strongly supports fluoridation financially, Kohn does a poor job of convincing anyone to endorse fluoridation in a series of Delta Dental YouTube videos. I’ll bet he makes way more money in his new job.

b) Dentist William Mass was equally impotent when asked to defend fluoridation before a county legislature in his new job as Fluoridation Consultant to the billion-dollar Pew Foundation’s Dental Policy group. Under his guidance, Pew fluoridation initiatives in Portland, Oregon and Wichita, Kansas failed when voters rejected fluoridation 60% to 40% despite the vast amount of money spent trying to convince them to swallow the fluoride.

Dentists Doing Very Well, Thank You, Despite Fluoridation

Fluoridation hasn’t hurt dentistry’s bottom line at all. In fact, dentistry is big business today despite 7 decades of water fluoridation and a glut of fluoridated dental products. Americans spent about $108 billion on dentists in 2011, an inflation-adjusted increase from $64 billion in 1996, according to the General Accounting Office. But a dental crisis still exists.

Since fluoridation doesn’t reduce tooth decay, whose best interests are served by protecting fluoride’s image?

  

The Global Toothpaste Market is expected to reach $12.6 billion by 2015, according Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

And, as you know, toothpaste isn’t the only fluoridated dental product on the market.

The global dental equipment market is predicted to exhibit a compound annual growth rate of 9% to reach over $13 billion by 2016

Cosmetic dentistry continues to surge with an annual U.S. expenditure of $2.75 billion. 

Fluoridation has created a lucrative new market for cosmetic dentistry. Fluoride-overdose symptoms, dental fluorosis (discolored teeth) has increased in incidence and severity over the years.  WebMD writes, “Although fluorosis is not a disease, its effects can by psychologically distressing and difficult to treat. Parental vigilance can play an important role in preventing fluorosis.”

Sales of fluoride varnish are soaring as organized dentistry lobbied legislators to increase, require or allow their use among more practitioners – even though the varnish contains a hugely toxic 22,600 parts per million fluoride and has never been FDA approved for cavity reduction or safety tested. http://www.cda.org/Portals/0/pdfs/ab667_topical_fluoride_faq.pdf

Money is Power

Why does the ADA need so much money?  Money is power in American politics. The ADA’s Political Action Committee is considered a Heavy Hitter by the Center for Responsive Politics. It seems that organized dentistry lobbies mostly for laws that benefit their member dentists. Some legislation masquerades as a public benefit. Fluoridation wears such a mask.

The New York State Dental Association brags about its legislative victories on its website

The New York Times reported about the NY Dental Association’s political clout and sleazy politicking, in 2008.

The Greater New York Dental Meeting which is billed as the largest dental conference in the country generates millions of dollars. Exhibitors look like a who’s who in the dental industry

 A National Journal article (1/20/2014) explains how organized dentistry heavily funds two dentists (Reps Mike Simpson and Paul Gosar) in the US House of Representatives. In 2012, The Wall Street reported that Simpson helped stall funding for a piece of the new health care law which the dental lobby opposed. In 2013, the American Dental Association listed two "action alerts" on its website, urging its members to write in support of legislation. Both bills were authored by Gosar, and Simpson was among the earliest cosponsors of both.

Simpson co-authored a dental bill that included fluoridation in 2004 and earlier

Gosar spearheaded a failed 2001 push to fluoridate Flagstaff, Arizona.

Gosar and Simpson co-signed a letter to all Congress encouraging water fluoridation. 

Healthy Diets Make Healthy Teeth without Fluoride

Even the ADA admits good dental health begins in the womb. It’s important for pregnant women to receive sufficient amounts of tooth-building nutrients, including calcium, protein, phosphorous and vitamins A, C and D  But dentists are mostly focused on fluoride, a drug with adverse side effects, that is not even essential for healthy teeth. American children are especially deficient in  Vitamin D and calcium, which is linked to more tooth decay.

But there’s no money in selling nutrients and healthy eating.

So it’s not surprising that the U.S. is experiencing a tooth decay epidemic along with a fluoride-overdose epidemic. Up to 60% of adolescents have dental fluorosis. Yet 51% of them have tooth decay.

Nearly 9,500 new dental providers are needed to meet the country’s current oral health

needs, according to a report by US Senator Bernie Sanders (Dental Crisis in America February 2012)

Who’s in Charge?

No government agency has direct oversight of fluoridation. The CDC it’s not responsible for fluoridation safety. The FDA regulates fluoride as a drug for topical application and considers ingested fluoride such as fluoride supplements, an unapproved drug. The EPA regulates fluoride in water supplies as a contaminant.  Organized dentistry, fueled by corporate cash, protects fluoride’s image and promotes fluoridation but not the American public.

So Why Fluoridation? 

The dental crisis America faces today is because dentistry has become a luxury service that most Americans can’t afford.  80% of dentists refuse to accept Medicaid patients, 130 million lack dental insurance.  Many with dental insurance can’t afford dentistry’s high out of pocket fees.  The answer is simple - legalize Dental Therapists in the US as they have been for decades in other first world countries.  They just need 2 or 3 years training to do simple dentistry. They will go into mouths and areas dentists refuse to go. Studies show they are highly effective and more affordable.

However, organization dentistry, with its pockets full of corporate cash, lobby long and hard to keep affordable dentistry an oxymoron in the US.  Dentists lobby against dental therapists because, some say, they infringe upon dentists lucrative monopoly.

END

PEW Routinely Deceptive about Fluoride Safety

Launched in 2008, the Children’s Dental Policy arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts is using its political clout and money, coupled with misinformation and untruths, to promote fluoridation initiatives and preserve existing schemes in many cities and states.

According to Pew’s fluoridation promoter Matt Jacob (Ref 1), Pew’s outreach to states for community water fluoridation (CWF) included the following:

Arkansas: “Funded a poll and offered other assistance to pass a state mandate in 2011.”

California: “Provided assistance to a successful campaign to secure CWF in San Jose.”

Kansas: “Assisted oral health advocates in Wichita pass a fluoridation policy.” 

Mississippi: “Provided message training for oral health field staff.”

Montana: “Assisted successful effort to preserve CWF in the city of Bozeman.”

New Hampshire: “Helped defeat a statewide ban on CWF.”

 

Oregon: “Offering funds and research for a campaign in Portland."

Wisconsin: “Provided research and technical assistance to preserve CWF in Milwaukee.” 

Pew loses in Wichita and Portland However, PEW’s PR, money and devious tactics lost big time to common sense and truth in Portland Oregon and Wichita Kansas when voters rejected fluoridation in referenda in both towns with a margin of 60% to 40%. 

Buying votes In Portland the pro-fluoridation team –aided by PEW - outspent citizens opposed to fluoridation 3 to 1 and gave at least $143,000 to local minority groups who supported fluoridation. These five groups each received $20,000: Urban League of Portland, the Latino Network, the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, Center for Intercultural Organizing, and the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization. The Oregon Latino Health Coalition got $5,000, while the Native American Youth and Family Center received $37,810. The Portland chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who opposed fluoridation, received nothing (Ref 2). 

Pew hires Willam Maas In an effort to sway voters and decision makers, Pew has hired as its fluoridation adviser, dentist William Maas, former head of the CDC’s Oral Health Division. Those credentials may look impressive on paper but not in person. When grilled by the Sedgwick (KS) County Commission, he looked nervous and admitted that the so-called “mild” fluorosis (in this category 50% of the enamel of the affected teeth is impacted) occurs even in children who live in non-fluoridated communities, and then he actually claimed fluorosis is attractive.  (Watch the hearing – Maas speaks at 31:00 minutes).
This remark angered a Sedgwick Commissioner who says others may not find it so attractive. The Sedgwick Commissioner was right. Studies have repeatedly found that children find teeth with so-called “mild” fluorosis to be objectionable – a point that even the CDC, Maas’s old boss, has conceded.

The Sedgwick Commissioner added:

 “If I found on my daughter’s teeth a substance that is abnormal, caused by chemicals introduced in our water supply … I’d be beyond irritated,” Skelton said. “I would wonder what internal effects would be going on, what kind of white spots is she going to have on her bones, etc. That’s a symptom of something larger, sir (Ref 3).” 

Pew spokesperson Bill Maas insults opponent but won’t debate
In another appearance in Wichita a citizen asked Maas if he would debate the head of FAN, retired environmental chemistry Professor Paul Connett. He refused saying that Connett was a brilliant debater and he (Maas) had only given about 6 public presentations. But then he added that Connett was “the leader of misinformation on this issue in the country.” This didn’t sit well with citizens at the meeting, most recognizing that you shouldn’t insult someone if you are not prepared to take that person on in public when challenged. 

Pew continues to mislead the public on the Harvard IQ study
In the Pew Children's Dental Campaign October 2013 letter to Des Moines Water Works (Ref 4) Shelly Gehshan, Director, Children’s Dental Policy continues to misrepresent and misreport the fluoride/IQ studies conducted by a Harvard team (Choi et al., 2012) even though FAN and others have corrected her misrepresentations in media release. Gehshan wrote the essentially the same misinformation in a July 2013 letter to The Dalles (Oregon)


Pew’s Gehshan confuses concentration and dose
Ms. Gehshan writes that the “levels of fluoride in the water” (i.e. concentration) in the IQ studies were at least “four or five times higher than the level used to fluoridate water in Des Moines” (Ref 4) thus continuing to confuse the difference between concentration (measured in mg of fluoride per liter) and dose (measured in mg fluoride ingested per day). The latter depends upon how much water people drink and how much fluoride they get from other sources. 
According to Paul Connett, “An above average water drinker in a fluoridated community, and also getting fluoride from other sources, could easily get more fluoride than a below average water consumer in several of the Chinese studies.”

The need for margin of safety ignored by Gehshan Connett adds, “To make matters worse Gehshan’s simplistic comparison ignored the larger concern for the need to apply a margin of safety to a dose that has been found to cause harm in order to protect the most vulnerable children in a large population. For this a safety factor of 10 is usually chosen. The job of people in regulatory agencies is to make sure they are protecting everyone not just the average person. Gehshan should know that.”

A false charge Gehshan also repeated the false charge that “the Harvard researchers [Grandjean and Choi] publicly distanced themselves from the way that anti-fluoride groups were misrepresenting these IQ studies.” In actual fact Choi and Grandjean tried to distance themselves from comments made by a Wichita journalist who claimed that the Harvard team thought the study was irrelevant to U.S. populations.

The truth, Grandjean writes, is that "only 4 of 27 studies" in the Harvard review used had high water fluoride levels, and "clear differences" in IQ "were found at much lower exposures."

In his new book, "Only One Chance: How Environmental Pollution Impairs Brain Development, Grandjean says fluoride is a brain-toxic chemical that may lower the intelligence of generations of children.

More distortion by Pew in Portland

One of the first tactics of fluoridation promotion, as advised by Pew’s PR fluoridation specialist Matt Jacob, is to identify a problem and lead with a need.   So Portland fluoridation promoters claimed that non-fluoridated Portland has more tooth decay than fluoridated portions of Oregon.  An  ABC-TV investigative reporter looked into this claim and found it to be untrue.  In fact, non-fluoridated Portland children actually have less tooth decay than those in fluoridated areas.

Pew sullying its reputation For many people who have respected the Pew Charitable Trusts on other issues, its cavalier disregard of the possibility that a practice that Pew is advocating – in the name of improving children’s health - may actually be lowering children’s IQ is very disturbing. Especially so since this Foundation claims on its website:

The Pew Charitable Trusts is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today's most challenging problems. Pew applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and stimulate civic life.

 

Where are they now?

Pew hired Salter Mitchell a PR firm to teach them strategy and created this website http://www.ilikemyteeth.org/ but this site is now under the umbrella of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Matt Jacob is now with the Children’s Dental Health Project (CDHP) https://www.cdhp.org/team/matt  Hopefully, the CDHP will be more careful about what Jacob says in their name about fluoridation. 

In conclusion The problem when advocates - with a lot of money to spend - hire a PR firm to present their side of the story is that truth and honest science go out of the window. Winning is everything. That’s what the PR firm is paid to do. That is what Pew is trying to do. But citizen power is capable of beating this “machine” when the truth is on their side and they are prepared to organize as the citizens in Wichita and Portland did. FAN was pleased to help.

Carol S. Kopf, Media Director Fluoride Action Network

www.FluorideAlert.org

 

Please help FAN to help more communities. Donate today!

 

Reference:

1. Jacob, 2012. Matt Jacob. A Prevention Agenda to Improve Children’s Oral Health, Florida Oral Health Conference, August 23, 2012. The Pew Center on the States. PowerPoint, page 33. 2. The Tooth Fairy: Minority groups backing Portland’s pro-fluoride measure have received $143,000 in payments from the campaign, by Nigel Jaquiss, Williamette Week (Portland), April 24, 2013.
3. Health aspects of fluoridated water debated at Sedgwick County meeting, By Dion Lefler, The Wichita Eagle, October 17, 2011.
4. Shelly Gershan. 2013. Letter to Des Moines Water Works, Iowa. October 15.

Fluoridation Fails; America’s Cavity Crisis Escalates, by Carol S. Kopf, BS, MA

Fluoridation Fails as America’s Cavity Crisis Escalates, by Carol S. Kopf, BS, MA

Tooth decay is a growing US epidemic (1) despite almost 7 decades of water fluoridation reaching record numbers of Americans and despite fluoridated toothpaste occuping 95% of the market.

While fluoride-overdose symptoms (discolored teeth or dental fluorosis) escalate fluoride isn’t doing much to prevent cavities. The CDC reports that up to 60% of US adolescents are afflicted with dental fluorosis. Yet,  51% have cavities, even though 41% of them have sealants.

Unrelated to and despite fluoridation, tooth decay is clearly a disease of poverty and malnutrition. In fact, new research indicates that people living in areas with fluoridated water and/or using fluoride toothpaste still get cavities and that, when less than 10% of total calories in the diet is made up of free sugars, there are much lower levels of tooth decay.

Fluoridation was implemented to preserve teeth, save money and put dentists out of business.  But none of that happened. Only politics and money keeps fluoridation alive. Science doesn’t.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, employment of dentists is expected to grow by 21 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations.

Over a quarter (28%) of US 2-5 year-olds have tooth decay - a 15% jump from a decade earlier (2) Fluoridation even fails to protect low income children – 48% of preschoolers from low-income households experienced tooth decay and 35% had untreated cavities (compared to 11.4% and 6% of preschoolers from higher income households, respectively) (1b)

An astounding 44% of all five-year-olds have cavities (3)

To compare, only 25% of England’s five-year-olds have cavities (4) yet, only 11% of England’s water supplies are fluoridated and children’s toothpaste is sold at half the fluoride concentration of US brands.

In Japan, children's tooth decay is falling sharply where both the water and toothpaste is not fluoridated and fluoride supplements are not prescribed.

In Ireland, where fluoridation is mandated country-wide, "Irish dental surgeries are 'brimming' with children showing signs of irreparable tooth decay because of their intake of sugary drinks and treats.

The US lags behind 10 other, mostly non-fluoridated, peer countries in cavity rates, according to WHO statistics. (4a) And, a state of decay flourishes among older Americans, according to a report by Oral Health America. (1a)

In Connecticut, the 4th richest state, fluoridation is state-mandated since the 1960’s. Yet, 35% of white children, 50% of African American and 50% of Hispanic children have cavities – even though 42%, 35% and 49% have dental sealants, respectively. Up to 57% of low-income third graders have tooth decay, 18% untreated, despite an increase in Medicaid utilization. (4b) The CDC gave the state of Connecticut a $1.5 million grant to improve dental health in September 2013.

In Minnesota, where fluoridation is also state mandated, 72% of low-income third-graders have tooth decay compared to 46% of non-poor. Between 2007 and 2010, Minnesota reported $148 million in emergency charges for preventable, non-traumatic dental care.  (4c)

In Oregon, 52% of first, second and third graders in fluoridated areas had one or more cavities but only 48% in the non-fluoridated Oregon city of Portland. (4d)

Published research shows that Kentucky, the most fluoridated state (99.9%) exceeds the US average for dental health problems as 13% of adults aged over 18 years are missing all of their teeth, compared to 6% nationally, placing Kentucky as the nation’s highest percentage of toothless persons.  

Forty-three percent of Kentucky’s under five-year-olds have severe early childhood dental decay. And, 50% of second graders and nearly 75% of 15 year olds in Kentucky have cavities.

In fact, after fluoridation was state mandated in Kentucky, tooth decay rates doubled.

The New York Times reported that dentists across the US say they are seeing more preschoolers at all income levels with 6 to 10 cavities or more (5)  CBS reported that "More preschoolers are showing up to dentists with 10 cavities or more.” (5a)

“’We have had a huge increase in kids going to the operating room,’ said Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, a pediatric dentist in Augusta, Me., and a spokesman for the American Dental Association. ‘We’re treating more kids more aggressively earlier,’” reported the NY Times.

In fact, the more highly fluoridated New York State counties have a greater number of 3- to 5-year-olds making tooth decay emergency department visits when compared to non-fluoridated counties. (See Below**)

Dental-related hospital emergency care more than doubled from 2000 to 2010, from 1 million to 2.3 million, and that doesn’t include seniors 65 and older (National Center for Health Statistics).(7)  The highest number were for 18-44 year-olds.

The Pew Foundation estimates that preventable dental conditions were the primary diagnosis in 830,590 visits to ERs nationwide in 2009—a 16 percent increase from 2006. (8 )

Between 2000-2008 there were 61,439 hospitalizations for tooth infections in the US, an increase of 41% from 2000 to 2008.  Sixty-six died; 89% occurred on an emergency/urgent basis; average age - 37 years-old.(Journal of Endodontics) (9)

Average annual out-of-pocket costs for dental services in the U.S. rose 26% from 1996 to 2010. (9a)

General Accounting Office (GAO) reported in 2008, “Extent of Dental Disease in Children Has Not Decreased, and Millions Are Estimated to Have Untreated Tooth Decay.” GAO estimates that 6.5 million children aged 2 through 18 in Medicaid had untreated tooth decay.

Tooth decal crises are occurring in all fluoridated cities and states. Americans are fluoride-overdosed and dentist-deficient. 

TOOTHLESS IN AMERICA

The most highly fluoridated US states are home to residents with the fewest teeth. For example,

Nationally, 16% of low-income non-elderly American adults (aged 18-64) lost six or more teeth, according to The Commonwealth Fund report, (10)  

The report, ”Health Care in the Two Americas," found big gaps between the lowest- and highest-performing states. For instance, low-income adults in 92% fluoridated West Virginia are far more likely to lose six or more teeth to decay or disease compared to 11% fluoridated Hawaii and 33% fluoridated Utah.(11)

Thirty-four percent of low-income older adults (65-74) lost all their teeth compared to 13% of non-poor. (National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief No. 104, August 2012) (12) Not counting wisdom teeth, 71% of adults, age 45-64, don’t have a full set of teeth. This includes 81% of Hispanics, 89% of Blacks and 65% of whites. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings introduced legislation addressing this dental crisis. The bills – which would expand dental coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and the Department of Veterans Affairs and increase the dental work force – were filed one week after a new government study documented skyrocketing costs and limited access to dental care. (13)

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that Americans spent about $108 billion on dentists in an inflation-adjusted increase from $64 billion in 1996. Forty-two percent of adults with tooth or mouth problems did not see a dentist in 2008 because they did not have dental insurance or could not afford the out-of-pocket payments.  And 4 million children did not obtain needed dental care because their families could not afford it.(14)

GAO's analysis showed that average annual dental out-of-pocket payments increased 26 percent, adjusted for inflation – 21% for the privately insured and 32% for the non-insured.  

In 2007, 12-year-old Deamonte Driver’s death from an untreated cavity, that festered and grew to attack his brain, first brought this dentist-deficiency to the nation’s attention. About two dozen dentists refused to treat him and $250,000 in public funds and a two week hospital stay couldn’t save his life. We’ve now learned that at least 66 Americans died in hospitals because of untreated tooth decay.(15)

Fluoridation Wastes Time and Money

Despite way too many money- and time-wasting conferences, congressional hearings, meetings, symposiums, reports, press conferences, studies and coalition-building among and between government agencies,  industry and organized dentistry including hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on fluoridation schemes throughout the country, very little has alleviated America's rotting teeth and rotting dental care industry.

Organized dentistry peddles more fluoride, making their corporate sponsors wealthier. But they continue to lobby against viable solutions such as Dental Therapists, which are to dentists what physicians’ assistants are to physicians.  Dental Therapists have worked successfully for decades in other first world countries with two years’ training. Only a well-funded persistent dental lobby keeps them from working more extensively in the US.

   

Fluoridation began in the 1945 when it was virtually the only fluoride source. Now fluoridated toothpaste is 95% of the market and is a multi-billion dollar international money-maker for powerful corporations. A myriad of fluoride dental products is on the market.  So it’s no wonder that the US Centers for Disease Control now reports that up to 60% of adolescents are fluoride-overdosed and afflicted with dental fluorosis – white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted teeth. Yet, 51% of them still have tooth decay.

                                                                                          

*92% of West Virginia is fluoridated;  92% of Tennessee; 80% of Alabama; 55% of Mississippi, and 99.9% of Kentucky)

**In 75% fluoridated New York State, 66 per 10,000 tooth decay emergency department (ED) visits were made by 3-5 year olds.  But, in the non-fluoridated counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Rockland, the rate is much lower (23, 45 and 25 respectively) ED visits per 10,000 (ages 3-5) in highly water fluoridated counties, Monroe, Erie, Chemung, Broome, Wayne, and Ontario is 102, 66, 69, 182, 92, and 82, respectively.

Reference:

1)     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/americas-hidden-epidemic_b_3964228.html

1a) http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2013/10/a-state-of-decay-flourishes-among-older-americans-according-to-oral-health-report.html?cmpid=EnlProdOctober92013

2)  http://www.cdhp.org/system/files/3.%20CDHP%20Issue%20Brief%20Early%20Childhood%20Caries%20Trend%20Upward.pdf

3) http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2012/11_0219.htm

4) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24162248

4a) http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13497&page=61

4b) http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/oral_health/pdf/oral_health_ct_2012_rev.pdf

4c) http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/hpcd/chp/oralhealth/oralhealthplan.html

4d) http://www.katu.com/news/problemsolver/Before-you-vote-Fluoride-and-kids-teeth---what-does-the-data-show-204717991.html

  

5) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/health/rise-in-preschool-cavities-prompts-anesthesia-use.html?scp=1&sq=dentaquest%20institute&st=cse&_r=0

5a) http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57391527-10391704/more-preschoolers-showing-up-to-dentists-with-10-cavities-or-more-says-report/

6) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22207670

7) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6238a8.htm?s_cid=mm6238a8_e

8) http://www.pewstates.org/uploadedFiles/PCS_Assets/2012/A%20Costly%20Dental%20Destination(1).pdf

9) http://www.thedentalelf.net/2013/08/26/study-suggests-an-increasing-number-of-americans-are-being-hospitalised-with-periapical-abscesses/#sthash.PQys2EUW.dpuf

9a) http://www.drbicuspid.com/index.aspx?sec=sup&sub=pmt&pag=dis&ItemID=314421

10) http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2013/Sep/Low-Income-Scorecard.aspx

11) http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/097723e8446247a28628335b0dadd7c1/WV--Low-Income-Health-WVa

12) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db104.htm

13)  http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-cummings-introduce-bills-to-address-dental-crisis

14) http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-754

15) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marian-wright-edelman/deamonte-drivers-dental-care_b_831705.html

16) https://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2007orleans/techprogram/abstract_93552.htm