Letter to Editor

Dear Editor,

I am writing to discuss water fluoridation. Throughout my dental hygiene education program, I have been taught that fluoride is a good thing, it can prevent cavities, it makes teeth stronger, and it’s naturally occurring, but I was never told that it really is a poison. After I read some research, I learned that the “fluoride” that is put in our water systems is really a mixture of many chemicals including hexafluorosilic acid and sodium silicofluoride and is a waste product of phosphate mining companies. Originally the waste that was expelled from these mining companies was a gas that was killing the livestock and vegetation. When this was realized the companies found a way to trap the gas and make it a liquid. Men would then dress in hazardous waste uniforms wearing gas masks and deposit this liquid that we call “fluoride” into our water systems. We humans, have become the dump site for the phosphate mining company waste. Oddly enough if I were to dump this waste into the environment, it would be called terrorism. The most shocking information I discovered was from the Center for Endemic Disease Control in China that conducted research of two communities, one with high concentrations of fluoride in their water and one with low amounts. This study found a decrease of .59 in the child’s IQ score for every additional milligram of fluoride in every liter of the child’s urine. So, aside from too much fluoride causing pitting and staining on teeth, it has also been shown to decrease a person’s IQ. My question is this, would I rather have a nearly mentally retarded child with no cavities, or an intelligent child with a few cavities? The answers are still being discovered that are met with extreme opposition in most dental offices and as a dental hygienist I feel it is my responsibility to provide my patient’s with sufficient alternatives to fluoride when they are opposed to it.

Sincerely
Christan W.