[attach]4900[/attach]Tooth hurts ... fluorosis causes teeth to become brittle and discoloured

THIS is fluorosis – the unsightly damage caused to teeth by too much fluoride. Now the Government wants the chemical added to ALL our water.
Around ten per cent of England’s tap water is already fluoridated, and in areas where it is used, kids have fewer cavities. Local health authorities have the power to order utility companies to add it to our tap water. Health Secretary Alan Johnson wants them to go ahead — after winning us over with a £42million “consultation”. Opponents are horrified. Elizabeth McDonagh, of the National Pure Water Association, says: “Fluoride is a cumulative poison and it has no place in our water supply.

Cancers
“It doesn’t magically attach itself to the teeth and nowhere else. It causes cancers, affects the thyroid gland, destroys muscle structure, destroys bone.”

Fluoro facts

FLUORIDE is proven to protect tooth enamel and help repair erosion.

Its benefits were recognised in the 1930s when medics noticed children living in areas where it was found in the water naturally had less tooth decay.

But they were also more likely to have discoloured teeth.

In Britain, the target dosage when it is added to water is 1mg of fluoride per litre of water, or one part per million.

But the EU has ruled that anything up to 1.5ppm is safe.

The World Health Organization and most medical and dental associations support fluoridation.

If you’re not sure if your water is fluoridated ask your dentist, contact your local Primary Care Trust or check with your water company.

So who’s right?

Professor Robin Davies, director of the oral health unit at Manchester University, says there is no doubt that fluorosis — fluoride damage to teeth — is more common when water is treated. But he believes: “The benefits of fluoridation far outweigh any problems. “Manchester and Birmingham have much the same demographics. Manchester is not fluoridated, while Birmingham has had fluoridation for 40 years — and the level of caries (tooth decay) in children in Manchester is twice that in Birmingham. “That has to be due to water fluoridation.” Prof Davies points out that if fluoride is as dangerous as its detractors claim, there would be a marked rise in cancers where it’s added to water.

He says: “It’s been used in America since the Forties. Other than fluorosis, there is no convincing evidence of problems.” Prof Davies says studies have shown fluorosis occurs in one to two per cent of children in areas with fluoridated water. But he says: “Fluorosis only occurs when the teeth are forming, so it’s actually quite a small window. “It can be prevented if parents supervise tooth-brushing and ensure children use no more than a pea-size dab of toothpaste.”
He says dental decay is a major problem in some parts of the country.

In Manchester and some non-fluoridated parts of the north-east, almost 10,000 children a year are admitted to hospital for extractions. But he does not agree with the Health Secretary’s suggestion that it should be added to ALL water supplies. He says: “Fluoridate the areas where there are high levels of disease, but I would not go along with using it everywhere.”