01_home

California Cavity-Epidemic Study Reveals Fluoridation is Ineffective

New York - February 14, 2006

Fluoridated California communities have 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 .

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% fluoridated8 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 Lawyer 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 these 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.

New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.

http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

Fluoridation News Releases

http://tinyurl.com/6kqtu

Tooth Decay Crises in Fluoridated Areas

http://www.fluoridenews.blogspot.com/

Fluoride Action Network http://www.FluorideAction.Net

Fluoride Journal http://www.FluorideResearch.Org

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/BAGESH3C6...

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/programs/programs_childdental.php

http://www.healthtrust.org/programs/programs_childdental_research.php

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

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...

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=rss...

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...

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