California Cavity-Epidemic Study Reveals Fluoridation is Ineffective
NYSCOF
huge cavity rates and large dentist-neglected populations, according to
a recent California study.(1)
Although dentistry promises steep cavity reductions with fluoride-laced
water supplies, that's not happening in California which is in the
midst of a cavity epidemic.(2)
For example: fluoridated Long Beach children have more cavities - 75%-
(3) than California state - 71% - despite a state-wide fluoridation
rate one-fourth that of Long Beach. California is 27% fluoridated.
Los Angeles County is 44% fluoridated, (4) yet 75% have tooth decay.(5)
Santa Clara County, where several cities fluoridate,(6) has a 72%
cavity rate.(7) Humboldt County is 35% fluoridated(8) yet may have a
higher cavity rate than California as a whole.(9) Despite five
fluoridated districts,(6) Alameda County had double the statewide
number of students needing urgent dental care.(10)
In contrast, NON-fluoridated Nassau County, New York, has a 50% cavity
rate.(11)
Nationally 50% of six- to 8-year-olds have cavities.(12) Fluoride is
delivered to 2/3 of Americans via public water supplies and virtually
100% via the food supply
The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) predicted that California
preschoolers' poor nutrition, soda drinking and poor dental care
would lead to more tooth decay.(13)
"Cavity rates correlate with poor diet and lack of dental care - two
symptoms of poverty - not fluoride intake," says Paul Beeber,
President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation.
"Fluoridation proponents are unjustifiably using the California study
to promote fluoridation, when, in fact, it proves fluoridation's
ineffectiveness," says Beeber.
Calcium, magnesium, vitamins A, C, D and other nutrients, not fluoride,
are required to build and maintain healthy teeth. Many California
preschoolers lack tooth-required nutrients because they do not consume
recommended amounts of fruit, vegetables and milk while drinking too
much soda.(13)
With free and accessible dental care, military personnel's dental
health exceeds their civilian counterparts, reports the U.S. Surgeon
General.(14)
Forty-percent of California's uninsured schoolchildren have untreated
decay.(1) Few California dentists accept Medicaid patients.(15) Yet,
dental groups oppose allowing trained dental therapists to mitigate the
oral health epidemic.(16a, b)
Many fluoridated communities experience cavity crises in the U.S.(17)
Children need dentists, not fluoridation.(18)
"With soda such an obvious and preventable cause of tooth decay, we
question why the American Association of Pediatric Dentists accepted a
$1 million grant from Coca-Cola,(19)" says Beeber.
Contact: Paul Beeber, President
New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc
nys...@aol.com
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof
http://www.FluorideAction.Net
References:
1) 2006 Oral Health Needs Assessment of Children, California Dental
Health Foundation
http://www.dentalhealthfoundation.org/topics/public/index.shtml
2) Childhood dental problems epidemic,
Study finds 71% of state's 3rd-graders have tooth decay, San Francisco
Chronicle, by Janine DeFao 02/06/06
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/06/BAGESH3C6S1.DTL
3) Dental disease sinks teeth into kids, by Kevin Butler,
Press-Telegram, 2/6/06
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_3479344
4) "Your Health," Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
- Public Health Volume III; Number 2; Winter 2000
5) 2006 Oral Health Needs Assessment of Children, California Dental
Health Foundation page Table 2 (Region 3)
http://www.dentalhealthfoundation.org/topics/public/index.shtml
6) Average Fluoride Levels of Public Water Systems in California
Implementing Water Fluoridation
http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/ddwem/Fluoridation/Fluoridetable2002.PDF
7) "Oral Health Status of Children in Santa Clara County," Results
of the Health Trust 2001 Needs Assessment, December 2001,
http://www.healthtrust.org/pubs/OralHealthStatusofChildreninSantaClaraCounty.PDF
8) "Crisis with our Children," Executive Summary, Humboldt County
Children's Oral Health Report, July 2001
www.co.humboldt.ca.us/health/pdf/exec_sum.pdf
9) "Humboldt sees high dental disease rates among children," by
Sara Watson Arthurs, The Times-Standard, 02/07/2006
http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/health/pdf/exec_sum.pdf
10) Dental decay afflicts quarter of state's kids, By Sandy Kleffman,
Contra Costa Times, 02/06/2006
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/13803140.htm
11) Nassau County Community Health Assessment 2005-2010
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Health/Docs/PDF/2005-2010_CHA.pdf
(page
12) U.S. Centers for Disease Control Oral Health At a Glance
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/aag/oh.htm
13) The Health of Young Children in California: Findings from the 2001
California Health Interview Survey. Los Angeles and Sacramento: UCLA
Center for Health Policy Research and First 5 California, July 2003.
http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pubID=71
14) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Oral Health in
America: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2000 (page 87)
15) Distribution of Medicaid Dental Services in California.
A paper by the Center for California Health Workforce Studies
at the UCSF Center for the Health Professions, December 2000
http://www.futurehealth.ucsf.edu/pdf_files/Medicaid%20Dental%20Report.PDF
16a) "American Dental Association Files Suit Over Unlicensed Dental
Therapists Providing Care In Rural Areas, NPR Reports," Feb 12, 2005
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=37250&nfid=rssfeeds
b) "State board acts for California dentists, not public,"
Sacramento Bee editorial
2/7/06http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=ED-DENTISTS-02-07-06
17) http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof2/_pgg6.php3
18)
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/newyorkstatecoalitionopposedtofluoridation/_pgg5.php3
19) Pediatric Dentists Accused of Selling Out to Coke. CSPI [Center
for Science in the Public Interest ] Urges AAPD to Put Kids' Teeth
Ahead of Coke's Money. March 2003
http://www.cspinet.org/new/200303041.html