> From:    Kathryn Rosenthal <[log in to unmask]>
> Thnaks.  Well....what can I say?  The article was written by a man who
> grew
> up in the S. U.S. w/out fluoride in the drinking water.  He apparently
> blames his bad (really, really bad) teeth on the lack of fluoride.
> 
> Sort of makes me wonder how the rest of his family fared in their
> teeth:
> patents, grandparents....    Could it be that his family just had
> crummy
> teeth?

Then contrast that with the second story I tried to link to (sorry--the
cached article at the link changed for some reason) of a guy who grew up in
an area of AZ that had high levels of fluoride--about five times what
fluoride levels in water supplies are generally supplemented up to.
Coincidence? 

I'll post an excerpt instead (it gives me a chance to take out the harsher
language anyway):

Debate about fluoride in water goes on  
December 17, 2006
By Geoff Oldfather, News Columnist
tcpalm.com

... Now, before you [fluoride opponents] start gnashing your ... teeth and
foaming at the mouth about how I know nothing about the effects of
fluoridated water, rest assured I do. 

I was involved in a study and survey in the early 1980s of people who grew
up in the San Pedro River valley in southeastern Arizona where naturally
occurring fluoride levels approached 5 parts per million. We are only
talking about bringing it up to between .7 and 1.2 parts per million here. 

The study established a baseline for people who grew up drinking the water
there as I did. 

Some of the questions were about 1) trips to the dentist, 2) cavities and 3)
broken bones. 

My answers were 1) never went, 2) never had any and 3) even though my finger
got crushed in the barn gate one day the bone didn't even crack. 

My mom joked about fluoridated toothpaste when it became popular. She stuck
to the regular kind. It was cheaper and besides, we didn't need the fancy
squiggly green stuff even if I did throw a fit in the grocery aisle. 

And that's the point. Study after study after study shows fluoridated water
is probably the Number One All Time Best and Super Cool preventive measure
we can practice to prevent something bad from happening, period. 

I'm sure the American Dental Association wouldn't say Number One All Time
Best and Super Cool, but I have to say this so even high school term paper
writers and whining teens and their whinier parents can understand, but I
digress. 

Bottom line is adding fluoride to the water prevents tooth decay and
strengthens bones, and studies showing otherwise have been debunked. ...

Add the fluoride. 

After all, I'm living, walking proof that adding fluoride isn't harmful. ...

> The article didn't have anything in it relating to science, not one
> study,
> no information re. the history of fluoride & why it was first put into
> drinking water, etc.
> 
> All in all, it seemed like a sad story written by someone w/ rotten
> teeth
> who chose to blame his situation on the lack of fluoride.
> 
> Kath

Wow, that seems pretty harsh. This debate really is an emotional one. There
are studies thrown around by both sides. Most of the posts on this subject
so far don't seem to be regarding double-blind, placebo-controlled studies,
though my memory could be wrong on that. I thought these stories were more
viscerally powerful than the studies anyway and I don't want to get bogged
down again in intensive research and debate on this, since my own personal
experience and past research confirmed the effectiveness of fluoride for me.


Besides, in the local debate in my city, the slew of research that was
provided to support bringing fluoride up to levels considered optimal had no
noticeable impact on the anti-fluoride camp. They considered it all to be
from untrustworthy and even sinister sources, so the letters from local
ordinary people (including dentists and health care providers as well as
those journalists) they know seemed to have more impact. 

I just thought I'd let people know there's another viewpoint out there that
they can investigate if they are interested, since it wasn't getting much
mention up to this point. I know the consensus here seems to be against
fluoride supplementation of water, so take it or leave it as you will,
though it's generally a good idea to investigate all sides of an issue. I
had come across passionate anti-fluoride arguments myself before online, in
alternative health periodicals and from people I know, but I never had seen
equally passionate arguments from the other point of view until I came
across those stories and they caused me to look into it further. There's
plenty more information from both sides in the debate that occurred at that
newspaper that can be found with free registration at the tcpalm.com site. I
had saved a couple I thought included powerful stories from a different
perspective than I was used to seeing.

Thanks,
Phil