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Fluoridation
After reading Dr Mortimore's recent letter in the Echo about fluoridation and Professor John Newton's subsequent claim that "the fluoride consultation will be a fair process" and "the opportunity to look at the available facts" will be given to the public, I decided to visit the website (southamptonhealth.nhs.uk/fluoridation) that Dr Mortimore recommended for those seeking more information on the subject.
Machiavelli himself would have been proud of the document I found, "Fluoridation - sorting fact from fiction". It reminded me of the words of Dr Hans Moolenburgh, a Dutch GP, who led a group of objectors to fluoridation in the 1970s in Holland - and won. Indeed it is now written into the Dutch constitution that the practice shall never be introduced there again.
Dr Moolenburgh said that fighting fluoride is a game of semantics (ie a clever use of words) to hide the truth.
The document detailed 22 "facts" about fluoridation and I couldn't find one that was entirely honest while there were a number of glaring untruths.
The Government's York Review did not confirm that fluoridation reduces tooth decay. They said that the science they studied was of such a poor quality that fluoridation's safety and efficacy could not be guaranteed; it might reduce decay up to 15% or it might even harm the teeth - in any case the improvement would be insignificant.
York categorically denied that dental fluorosis is just a cosmetic problem and Baroness Hayman in a written answer on behalf of the Government to Parliament confirmed that it is a sign of systemic toxicity.
Fluorosis is common and endemic in fluoridated Birmingham.
There are no strict quality standards for the fluorosilicates used in fluoridation. They have never been safety tested nor given any clinical trials. They are not registered medicines nor are they natural'.
To say that one part fluoride in a litre of water is safe is fatuous as the authorities have no control over the dose, from all sources, that any one person receives.
Is this the quality of the "available facts" to be made available to the public during the consultation by Dr Mortimore and Professor Newton?
ANN RICHARDS, Hampshire Against Fluoridation.
10:00am Friday 9th May 2008
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