Besides, “according to the 1993-1994 California Oral Health Needs
Assessment, “water fluoridation status of the children’s area of
residence did not have a significant effect on ECC (early childhood
caries)…” (14)

After 60 years of water fluoridation reaching 2/3 of Americans on
public water supplies and virtually 100% via the food supply, tooth
decay is a growing epidemic according to a federal study. (15)

The Centers for Disease Control reports from 1/3 to 1/2 of U.S.
schoolchildren sport dental fluorosis1 – white-spotted, discolored
and/or sometimes pitted teeth, caused by fluoride over-ingestion -
whether their water is fluoridated or not.

The Academy of General Dentistry advises against fluoridated water for
infant formula or food preparation because many studies show this ups
children’s fluorosis risk.2

The U.S. Surgeon General reports that excessive fluoride increases
susceptibility to cavities.3

To avoid crippling skeletal fluorosis, the Environmental Protection
Agency sets 4 parts per million (ppm) or 4 milligrams per quart of
water as fluoride’s maximum contaminant level.4

The Iowa Fluoride Study’s principal investigator, Steven Levy, found
that some babies exceed that level daily. Furthermore, Levy found 90%
of 3-month-olds consumed over their recommended fluoride levels.5

Levy et al. report, “There is no specific nutritional requirement for
fluoride…given the increased prevalence of fluorosis, it may be
necessary to revise downwards the adequate intake levels of
fluoride.”

Levy also found:

- 77% of soft drinks had fluoride levels greater than 0.60 ppm

- two ounces of baby chicken food provides baby’s maximum dose

- foods high in fluoride – teas, dry infant cereals, dried
chicken, and seafood

- grape juice, especially white, contains very high fluoride
levels

- 42% of juice and juice drinks tested revealed unlabeled fluoride
levels greater than 0.60 ppm

- cereals processed in fluoridated areas contain from 3.8 to 6.3
ppm fluoride

The USDA provides a database of fluoride contents of food

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/Fluoride/Fluoride.html

Reports that bottled-water drinkers risk more cavities are
unsubstantiated. The Wall Street Journal reported, “Little research
has been done on the use of bottled water and risk of tooth decay,
dental experts concede.6″ UPI wrote: “(P)ublished literature shows
little cause for alarm.7″ Australians drinking fluoridated or
non-fluoridated water have similar cavity rates.8

“Fluoride ingestion, whether through tap or bottled water, delivers
health risks without benefits, says Paul Beeber, President, New York
State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.. “I urge Dentists to read the
mounting scientific literature indicating fluoride’s harm and
ineffectiveness and not remain fluoride-misinformed.”

Adequate daily intake of fluoride from all sources, according to the
Institute of Medicine, in order to avoid moderate fluorosis9, which the
ADA describes as “All tooth surfaces affected; marked wear on biting
surfaces; brown stain may be present10:”

· infants up to 6 months old – less than 0.01 mg
· babies from 6 – 12 months – less than 0.5 mg
· children from 1 to 3 years old – less than 0.7 mg
· children from 4 to 8 years old – less than 1 mg

In 2003 the Center for Science in the Public Interest criticized the
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) for “selling out” to the
Coca-Cola company by accepting a $1 million grant from the company that
produces cavity causing beverages.11 On January 31, 2006, the AAPD
helped Coca-Cola launch their new product – fluoridated bottled water -
in a joint news release which says, “The awareness campaign recognizes
that children in the United States may not be getting enough
fluoride.12″

There is no evidence that US children do not get “enough” fluoride.

After 60 years of water fluoridation reaching about 2/3 of Americans on
public water supplies and virtually 100% via the food supply along with
increased sales of fluoridated dental products, tooth decay in America
is still an epidemic, not because of lack of fluoride; but possibly
from a fluoride glut and mostly from dentists unwilling or unable to
treat low-income people.

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that 80 percent of
tooth decay is found in just 25 percent of the children, most of whom
are from low-income families. 13 The U.S. Surgeon General reports that
80% of dentists refuse Medicaid patients.

SOURCE: New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation

References:

1) Beltrán-Aguilar et al. Surveillance for Dental Caries, Dental
Sealants, Tooth Retention, Edentulism and Enamel Fluorosis – United
States, 1988-1994 and 1999-2002. MMWR. CDC August 26, 2005

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5403a1.htm

Tara Parker-Pope. Wall Street Journal. “Some Young Children Get Too
Much Fluoride,” December 21, 1998
http://www.actionpa.org/fluoride/wsj.html

2) Monitor Infant’s Fluoride Intake. News Release. Academy of General
Dentistry, Accessed January 31, 2005
http://www.agd.org/consumer/topics/baby/fluoride.asp

3) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Oral Health in
America: A Report of the Surgeon General. Released in 2000; Page 203

4) Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2004 Edition
of the Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories. Washington DC.
Winter 2004
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/drinking/standards/dwstandards.pdf

5) “Current and future role of fluoride in nutrition,” Warren & Levy,
Dental Clinics of North America 47(2003)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&...

6) Betsy McKay. Bottled Water and Tooth Decay: Kids May Not Be Getting
Enough Fluoride. Wall Street Journal. January 24, 2006

http://money.aol.com/wsj/investing/3canvas?id=20060124065909990001

7) Joe Grossman. Bottled water not affecting tooth decay. UPI Science
News, May 30, 2002
http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=30052002-022918-7269r

Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, August 2004 Consumption
of nonpublic water: implications for children’s caries experience,
by Armfield JM, Spencer AJ. http://tinyurl.com/cetlf

9) Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Fluoride. Dietary
Reference Intakes: Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and
Fluoride. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press; 1997:288-313
http://darwin.nap.edu/books/0309063507/html/301.html

10) American Dental Association, Fluoridation Facts 2005
http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/facts/fluoridation_facts.pdf

11) http://www.cspinet.org/new/200303041.html

12) http://sev.prnewswire.com/health-care-hospitals

13) http://www.gao.gov/archive/2000/he00149.pdf

(14)
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/NewsAndReports/ReportsPresentation/Directors...

(15) http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=447923