Tooth Decay Is Back - Fluoride's No Help
NEW YORK, May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- "Tooth decay is back -- it's worse than ever -- it's
coming to a tooth near you," said a dentist to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) panel
convened to evaluate tooth decay research, March 2001. Most tooth decay research is poorly
done, the panel concluded.
Despite water fluoridation, a glut of fluoridated products and skyrocketing children's fluoride
overdose symptoms (dental fluorosis) in fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities, tooth
decay is still a major problem.
"While fluoride is proclaimed a significant cavity reducer, there is little, if any, science to
support that," says lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to
Fluoridation. "Furthermore, there's no evidence that lack of fluoride puts children at high risk
for cavities," he says.
An NIH news release supports Beeber's assertion: "... the (NIH) panel was disappointed in the
overall quality of the clinical data that it reviewed. According to the panel, far too many
studies were small, poorly described, or otherwise methodologically flawed" (over 560
studies evaluated fluoride use).
Tooth decay is epidemic in poor and minority populations, according to the Surgeon General,
the same groups that suffer a disproportionately high amount of almost all recorded diseases
including obesity and diabetes -- both linked to sugar overconsumption. Many poor continue
to eat diets that lack several key nutrients and are high in fat and sugar, according to a study
reported by Reuters Health on April 26, 2001.
Dentists also report tooth decay increases in soda drinking children despite ingesting
recommended fluoride.
Dental researcher, Professor Brian Burt, BDS, University of Michigan, reported to the NIH
panel, "... avoiding consumption of excess sugar is a justifiable part of caries prevention, if
not the most crucial aspect."
"We are wasting taxpayer dollars researching fluoride when, it's clear, that improper diet
leads to tooth decay," says Beeber. "Sadly, fluoride's adverse effects hurt the malnourished
the most, including neurological impairment, bone deformities, dental defects, thyroid
dysfunction and more," he said.
Fluoride varnish is painted on young children's teeth in many U.S. head start programs even
though the NIH panel found no research supports its effectiveness on primary teeth.
A toxic amount of fluoride (22.6 milligrams), painted on children's primary teeth, stays on
for an hour or more.
"This is outrageous," said Beeber. "High levels of ingested fluoride before the age of seven
can forever discolor the permanent teeth," he said.
A prominent dental researcher says, "If the current weak trend of caries research in the
United States continues, history will be harsh on all of us for our failure to use our
knowledge and resources to reduce, if not eliminate, the burden of one of the world's most
prevalent diseases," wrote Amid Ismail, BDS, Professor, University of Michigan School of
Dentistry in a report to the panel.
NIH Consensus Panel: <http://odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/115/115_intro.htm>http://odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/115/115_intro.htm
SOURCE New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.
Web Site: <http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof
<http://www.fluoridealert.org
Contact: Paul Beeber, NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, 516-433-8882,
nyscof@aol.com
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