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The Great
Fluoridation
Hoax; Fact or
Fiction
Dr. Ronald S. Laura and John F. Ashton
DOES IT BENEFIT YOU OR BIG BUSINESS!
The controversy surrounding fluoridation raises a number of important
socio-ethical issues which cannot be overlooked. One of the most burning
questions is whether the fluoridation programme represents a milestone in
the advancement of community health or the opportunistic outcome of a
powerful lobby concerned largely to advance its own vested interests at
the expense of the interests of the public. The historical origins of fluoridation
are revealing, though we shall for obvious reasons in what follows
not interpret the revelation itself, but rather tease out a few of the truly
remarkable coincidences which make those origins revelatory.
In a more direct approach to a related issue, however, we shall argue that
the potential and actual health risks associated with fluoridation have not
been sufficiently appreciated by those in favor of fluoridation. The intentional
introduction of fluorides in drinking water has certainly not received
the rigorous scrutiny and testing properly brought to bear on the wide array
of available medical drugs, many of which can be bought without prescription.
Finally, we urge that even if it were determined that the addition of a
minimal amount of fluoride to our water supply was both safe and effective
in the reduction of caries in the teeth of children, the relevant dosage of fluorides
could not be satisfactorily restricted to ensure that the harmful effects
of fluoride did not outweigh the alleged beneficial effects.
THE GENESIS OE FLUORIDATION
Many readers will be surprised to hear that fluorides have been in use for
a long time, but not in the prevention of tooth decay. The fluorides we
Dr. Ronald S. Laura is a professor of education at the University of Newcastle and is a
PERC Fellow in Health Education, Harvard University, and John F. Ashton teaches in the
department of education at the University of Newcastle.