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The F Word: Fluoridation Controversy in Oregon

The F Word: Fluoridation Controversy in Oregon. Chelsea Pyper, An Vu, Tom Badrick, Jeanie Partlow, Lidia Murzea. Fluoride: A brief history. Implemented in 1949 Condoned by WHO, the CDC, and various health organizations worldwide Single most reactive element; found in rocks

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The F Word: Fluoridation Controversy in Oregon

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  1. The F Word: Fluoridation Controversy in Oregon Chelsea Pyper, An Vu, Tom Badrick, Jeanie Partlow, Lidia Murzea

  2. Fluoride: A brief history • Implemented in 1949 • Condoned by WHO, the CDC, and various health organizations worldwide • Single most reactive element; found in rocks • Most fluoride in water comes from fertilizer • Protects enamel, prevents cavities, and reduces tooth decay.

  3. The Portland Problem • 60% voted against it • Clean Water Portland raised $12,000 against it • approved in 1978, repealed 2 years later • Portland water already has Fluoride, but not enough to be beneficial • Going to be passed “under the table” by city council officials when persuaded by unknown health organizations

  4. Why Fluoridate ? Scientifically Speaking • Benefits of fluoride - Research and findings - Essential mineral • Effect on Dental Caries

  5. Benefits for communities • Method of consumption - Access to fluoride • Especially important for young children

  6. Safety of fluoridation • Rules and regulations • Optimum fluoride levels - 0.7 and 1.2 PPM

  7. Why Fluoridate? America, we have a problem -Oral Health Crisis coupled with -Dental anxiety issues And we have a solution -Its effective and affordable -Everyone else is doing it

  8. Oral Health Crisis 50 million Americans lack health insurance but.........108 million Americans, children included are without dental insurance. -Poor oral health can lead to other health problems - diabetes - heart and lung disease - strokes - infections

  9. Dental Anxiety 9% to 15% of Americans avoid seeing the dentist because of anxiety and fear. 30 million to 40 million Americans

  10. We have a solution Its effective Costs pennies per person Endorsed by experts

  11. Endorsed by experts

  12. Cost effective For larger cities the cost is 50 cents/person Every $1 invested in this preventive measure yields approximately $38 savings in dental treatment costs

  13. Effective Delivery Mechanism Best way to provide fluoride? NO YES!!!!!

  14. Everyone else is doing it Lets get on the fluoride bus 72 % of the population in the US are served by public water supplies containing enough fluoride to protect teeth Thats 195 million people Oregon is tied for 39th among the 50 states for population receiving fluoridated water

  15. You be the judge Who should you believe? Conspiracy theorists and alarmists?

  16. Why is Fluoridation Wrong ? Where does the base solution of fluoride added to water come from? • Sodium Fluoride (NaF), white odorless, powder or crystal. more expensive, easily handled, used by smaller utility companies • Fluorosilicic Acid (H2SiF6), inexpensive liquid by-product of phosphate fertilizer manufacturing. Other uses include: Wood preservative, Sterilization of equipment, Electroplating, Tanning, Glass etching, Cement Hardening, Oil acidizing, Rust Removal in textile field, lead refining and fluorosilicate salt manufacturing. • Sodium Fluorosilicate (Na2SiF6), is the sodium salt of fluorosilicic acid, powder or fine crystal U.S. public water supply systems reporting type of compound used: 63% used Fluorosilicic Acid 28% used Sodium Fluorosilicate 9% used Sodium Fluoride Of these 3 compounds the only one used in toothpaste is the Sodium Fluoride

  17. Water Fluoridation: An American Phenomenon • 1901, Colorado Brown Stain, first discovered dental fluorosis (Dental fluorosis characterized by staining, cracking, and pitting of teeth) • January 25, 1945, Grand Rapids Michigan, first community to fluoridate drinking water • 1951, U.S. Public Health Service declares fluoridation an official policy • 1960, widely used in the United States, reaching 50 million people • 2012, 72% of the total United States population get water from public systems that add fluoride • The United States was the first country to implement water fluoridation on a wide scale. • Other countries follow suit, but with additional scientific research other countries have stopped the practice • The United States is still using the practice of water fluoridation as initiated in the 1940’s

  18. What Does the Science Say? What do we know today? • Fluoride has topical, not systemic benefits, there is no need to swallow • Fluoride works by poisoning enzymes in oral bacteria in the saliva • Fluoride is not a nutrient (CDC supports this view) • Fluoride’s risks come from ingestion

  19. The Powerful Poison of Enzymes • Earliest opponents to fluoridation were biochemists Dr James Sumner, a Nobel Laureate biochemist at Cornell University: “We ought to go slowly [with water fluoridation]. Everyone knows fluorine and fluorides are very poisonous substances...We use them in enzyme chemistry to poison enzymes, those vital agents in the body. That is the reason things are poisoned; because the enzymes are poisoned and that is why plants and animals die.” • osteoarthritis • osteosarcoma • infertility • hypothyroidism • pineal gland abnormalities, high fluoride content, low melatonin production

  20. What Does the CDC Say? New Hampshire passed state legislation mandating warnings be placed on water bills regarding health risks for infants consuming fluoridated water The warning reads as follows: Your public water supply is fluoridated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if your child under the age of 6 months is exclusively consuming infant formula reconstituted with fluoridated water, there may be an increased chance of dental fluorosis. Consult your child’s health care provider for more information.” Generally the CDC will support water fluoridation but this action warning in particular strikes a chord with the agency, forcing it to admit that fluoridated water mixed with baby formula is dangerous for the teeth which are supposed to be developing.

  21. Fluoride is Inefficient and Not Cost-Effective • Only a small portion of water fluoridated actually reaches the target Used to: • Wash dishes • Flush Toilets • Water Lawns • It would be cost-prohibitive to use pharmaceutical grade sodium fluoride Water fluoridation is artificially cheap because the fluoridating agent is a unpurified hazardous waste product from the phosphate fertilizer industry • If it was appropriate to swallow fluoride, a better solution would be to provide fluoridated bottled water free of charge • This would allow the quality and dose to be controlled • This would allow informed consent among the population

  22. Fluoride is Unethical • It violates an individual's right to informed consent of medication • The municipality cannot control the dose of the patient • The municipality cannot track each individual’s response • It ignores the fact that some populations are more vulnerable than others to the toxic effects • It violates the Nuremberg code for human experimentation

  23. Fluoride in Common Foods

  24. A Pediatrician speaks out on Fluoridation

  25. Do we have a dental health problem? Portland Untreated decay rate: 21% National rate: 29% Federal 2020 goal: 26% Cavity rates have dropped 19% and 10% in Multnomah County

  26. What else is in the water? 43% arsenic 2% lead 2% copper, lead, mercury

  27. Show me the money! 7.6 million for construction of plant $500,000 yearly for maintenance 40% of people using the water live outside city limits and are not subject to the cost

  28. What do you think? Yes to fluoridation?No to fluoridation? ? ?

  29. References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2001). Recommendations for using fluoride to prevent and control dental caries in the United States. Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Review 50(RR14):1-42. Center for Disease Control, (2013). Community water fluoridation. Retrieved from Center for Disease Control website: http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/basics/ Colgate. (2010). What is dental anxiety and phobia. Retrieved from Colgate website: http://www.colgate.com/app/CP/US/EN/OC/Information/Articles/Oral-and-Dental-Health-Basics/Checkups-and-Dental-Procedures/The-Dental-Visit/article/What-is-Dental-Anxiety-and-Phobia.cvsp Connett, P. (2013.). Fluoride Action Network | The Absurdities of Water Fluoridation. Fluoride Action General, S. US Department of Health and Human Services, (2003). National call to action to promote oral health. Retrieved from website: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calls/oralhealth/nationalcalltoaction.html Kaiser Commission. (2012). Medicaid and the uninsured: oral health and low income non-elderly adults. Retrieved from The Hentry J. Kaiser Family Foundation website: http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/7798-02.pdf Knutson JW. (1952). The case for water fluoridation. New England Journal of Medicine246:737-43.Featherstone, JDB. (2000). The Science and Practice of Caries Prevention. Journal of the American Dental Association 131: 887-899. Network | Broadening Public Awareness on Fluoride.. Retrieved August 4, 2013, from http://www.fluoridealert.org/articles/absurdity

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