Healthy Smiles Project

The City of Port Huron, Michigan last night soundly rejected furious attempts by anti-fluoridationists to end a very successful fluoridation program in place since 1974. The city has been in financial difficulties of late. National opponents of this valuable service to children attempted to exploit the situation by utilizing now familiar fear mongering tactics in letters to the editor and contacts with city council members. Nevertheless, local dental and medical professionals as well as local public health experts and regular citizens showed up in force at commission meetings to make it clear that it would be folly to reject a program that had proven itself so overwhelmingly safe and cost effective.

Congratulations, Port Huron, this writer’s home town, for being yet another community of clear vision willing to stand up for its children and reject those spreading unwarrented fear.

During the Florida presidential primary elections January 29th, citizens of the City of Stuart, Florida supported adding fluoride to their municipal water supply in a ballot initiative. In doing so, they issued a sharp rebuke to a small but very determined and loud group of what the local newspaper called “antifluoridistas” who had waged an unrelenting campaign of misquotes, out of context quotes, and outright fabrications in an attempt to mislead and instill fear in the citizenry. The rhetoric became very heated and invective was often directed at individual doctors working to educate and calm the fears in the public. Nevertheless, reason prevailed. Fluoridation for the city will begin in approximately 90-120 days. Stuart has given itself and its children a wonderful gift that will last a lifetime.

January 22, 2008 Healthy Smiles Project Committee

Dear Friend and Neighbor,

We would like to urge you to vote in favor of community water fluoridation on January 29th in the City of Stuart.

Fluoride is a safe, healthy, inexpensive, non-toxic mineral that everyone can benefit from.
Fluoride has a 60 year safety record and is endorsed by a blue ribbon panel of experts including:
 American Cancer Society
 American Medical Association
 American Dental Association
 American Public Health Association
 American Water Works Association
 U.S. Public Health Service
 U.S. Department of Defense and many more.

• What is it? Fluoride is a safe natural mineral that is already in our drinking water.
Fluoride is a mineral in the form of a salt that is very common in earth’s crust. For effective usage and prevention of tooth decay, the optimum level is 0.8 ppm (parts per million), the level Stuart will receive.

• How is it added to our water? Fluoride is added with precision equipment by the water utility department. The engineering protocol is determined by the American Water Works Association, which endorses community water fluoridation. It is NOT TOXIC dissolved in water, and for antifluoridationists to claim otherwise shows either their ignorance of basic high school chemistry, or their intent to scare the public.

• Is it safe? Absolutely. Fluoride at optimal levels is not a causative agent for any disease, sickness or ailment.
 The American Cancer Society states: “Scientific studies show no connection between cancer rates in humans and adding fluoride to drinking water.”
 Over 70% of our country already has optimally fluoridated water, many areas naturally, and have had it for decades.
 Did you know that Martin County is the ONLY county on the east coast of Florida that does NOT have optimally fluoridated community water? Florida Public Health officials routinely shake their heads at our ignorance.

• Is it effective? ABSOLUTELY. Communities experience a 30-40% reduction in dental decay in their children after adding fluoride.
 This saves HUGE amounts of money and countless toothaches in our kids.
 Ask your dentist. All of us have seen the results of tooth decay in non-fluoridated communities. We care about your health –we are your doctors.

• Does it help everyone? YES! Water fluoridation is most effective for children while teeth are forming, giving them LIFE-LONG protection. What a lasting gift for our children!
 Adults also gain benefits by very low levels of fluoride bathing the surfaces of their teeth while drinking water. Poor, rich, high society, middle class, struggling families, white, black, Latino, Asian—all get the same benefit by just drinking water normally.
 It is 100% egalitarian and fair. How many programs can make that claim?

• Is it the best way to fluoridate our teeth? YES, water with 0.8 ppm is the perfect concentration.
 Toothpastes help, but research shows it is not nearly as effective alone.

• Is it cost effective? YES! It will cost the city approximately $5,000 per year. That is all! That works out to be about (15,000 Stuart population)/$5,000 = 30 cents per person per year.
 Did you know that our hospital spends upwards of half a MILLION dollars, all from your taxes and insurance premiums, annually treating dental problems? How can we afford not to fluoridate our water?

Please join with us and the medical community who endorse fluoridated water.

VOTE YES on January 29.
Sincerely,

David Boden, D.D.S., M.S. Radamee Orlandi, D.D.S.
821 E. Ocean Blvd #C 3380 NE Sugarhill
Stuart, FL 34990 Jensen Beach, FL 34957

For the absolute best source of in-depth facts on water fluoridation, go to the source:

http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fluoride/facts/fluoridation_facts.pdf

The panhandle community of Milton, Florida has rejoined the ranks of smart Florida towns optimally fluoridating their drinking water to help protect their children and citizens from the expensive and painful annoyance of dental cavities. Here in Florida, over 77 per cent of community water systems are optimally fluoridated. The numbers keep growing as citizens realize that it is safe, enormously cost effective, and helps every resident regardless of wealth or race.

As you may know, Martin County is the only Florida east coast county without a fluoridated community water system. It is way past time that we take care of our citizens, too.

Give our kids the gift of a beautiful smile! Vote YES! for Community Water Fluoridation in Stuart on January 29th!

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California last month overcame the objections of a very small, but very vocal group of antifluoridationists and began fluoridating all of southern California’s drinking water. This came after years of research and work by water managers, political and health leaders, and community advocates for better public health. Many of the public questions they addressed are published on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California web site:

http://www.mwdh2o.com/fluoridation/index.html

where excellent Q & A’s, informational links, and background about community water fluoridation can be found in several languages.

If California accepted fluoridation, you can bet they researched it far more deeply than local antifluoridationists.