Dr David Kennedy

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Dear friends,

Citizens for Safe Drinking Water (CFSDW) has prepared the following fact sheet which saw a lot of use in recent Nebraska fluoride referendums. In Nebraska where the voters rejected fluoridation in all 7 communities this fact sheet (Pagemaker version with graphs) appeared as an insert in the local paper with the ADA fluoridation Facts as the principal opposing point of view. During the debate the ADA spokesperson Michael Easley, the Lincoln NE Professor of community dentistry and the State dental director has no counter to any of the points including the fact that there is no valid research linking ingested fluoride to reduced tooth decay.

FACT #1   Fluoride is more toxic than lead, and just like lead even in minute doses, accumulates in and is damaging to brain/mind development of children, i.e. produces abnormal behavior in animals and reduces IQ in humans.

FACT #2   Fluoridation is cancer-causing, cancer-promoting, and is linked to increased cancer rates in rats, mice, and humans . Dr. William Marcus, Senior Science Advisor at the Office of Drinking Water, stated unequivocally in his May Day Memo that fluoride is a carcinogen. Full text of the memo available 800-728-3833

FACT #3   Numerous studies including four published in the Journal of the American Medical Association since 1990 have found that Hip fracture rates are substantially higher in people residing in fluoridated communities .

FACT #4   Dental fluorosis, the first visible sign of fluoride poisoning, affects from 8% to 51% of the children drinking fluoridated water and has substantially increased over the last 40 years . Dental fluorosis is more than cosmetic damage with psychological harm. It is also indicative of neurological impairment (See ref. C 3 Dr. Li)

FACT #5   All of the recent large-scale studies on fluoridation and tooth decay show that fluoridation does not reduce tooth decay . Studies from New Zealand, Canada, Europe, and the US have confirmed no difference in decay rates for permanent teeth of residents of fluoridated vs. non-fluoridated communities.

FACT #6   Fluoride drops and tablets are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as safe or effective . Ingested fluoride has no detectable effect on decay rates. Fluoride tablets and drops have been shown to be ineffective in reducing tooth decay and to cause skin eruptions, gastric distress, headache, and weakness, which disappear when fluoride use is discontinued – as well as dental fluorosis, a permanent disfigurement.

The following warning is required an all fluoridated toothpaste by the FDA since April of 1997 due to the large number of calls to the Poison Control Centers for children who became acutely ill from ingested fluoride. There is approximately 1 milligram of fluoride in a pea sized drop of toothpaste.

WARNING: Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. In case of accidental overdose, seek professional assistance or contact a poison control center immediately.

 Fact #1   Neurotoxicity and intelligence

A)  Chronic Administration of Aluminum-Fluoride or Sodium-Fluoride to Rats in Drinking Water: Alterations in Neuronal and Cerebrovascular Integrity, JA Varner, KF Jensen, W Horvath, RL Issacson,. Brain Research Vol. 784, pp 284-298 1998 B) Mullenix, Phyllis et. al Neurotoxicity of Sodium Fluoride in Rats, Neurotoxicology and Teratology, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 169-177, 1995 C) Li, XS; Zhi, JL; Gao, RO Effects of fluoride exposure on intelligence in children, Fluoride 28:4, pp. 189-192 (1995) D) Zhao, LB; Liang, D; W Wu Lu-Liang Effects of a high fluoride water supply on children’s intelligence. Fluoride vol. 29:4 pp. 190-192 1996

Fact #2  Fluoride is cancer causing, cancer promoting:

A)  Carcinogenesis, Vol. 9, pp. 2279-2284 (1988) B)  Sodium Fluoride: individual animal tumor pathology table [rats], Battelle Memorial Institute, February 23, 1989 C)  Sodium Fluoride: individual animal tumor pathology table [mice], Battelle Memorial Institute, April 11, 1989 D)  Dr. Wm Marcus May Day Memo discussed in Lancet 36, page 737 (1990) E)  Review of Fluoride: Benefits and Risks, U. S. Public Health Service, pp. F1-F7 (1991) F)  Fluoride Vol. 26, pp. 83-96 (1992) Fluoride is an equivocal carcinogen G)  A Brief Report on the Association of Drinking Water Fluoridation and the  Incidence of Osteosarcoma among Young Males, New Jersey Department of Health, November 1992 H)  Fluoride, the Aging Factor, Health Action Press, pp. 72-90 (1993)

Fact #3   Hip fracture increase linked to water fluoride levels

A)  Jacobsen SJ, Goldberg J, Miles TP, Brody JA, et al.  Regional variation in the incidence of hip fractures: U.S. white women aged 65 years and older.  JAMA Vol. 264, pp. 500-502 (1990) B)  Cooper C, Wickham CAC, Barkcr DJR, and Jacobsen SJ.  Water fluoridation and hip fracture [letter].  JAMA Vol. 266, pp. 513-514, 1991 C)  Danielson C, Lyon IL, Egger M, and Goodenough GK.  Hip fractures and fluoridation in Utah’s elderly population.  JAMA Vol. 268, pp. 746-748 (1992) D)  Journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 273, pp. 775-776 (1995) E)  Jacobsen SJ, Goldberg J, Cooper C, and Lockwood SA.  The association between water fluoridation and hip fracture among white women and men aged 65 years and older: A national ecologic study.  Ann Epidemiol 1992: 2:617-26 F) Sowers MFR, Clark MK, Jannausch ML and Wallce RB, A prospective study of bone mineral content and fracture in communities with differential fluoride exposure.  Am J Epidemiol 1991; 133:649-60 G) Keller C. Fluorides in Drinking Water.  Paper presented at the Workshop on Drinking Water Fluoride influence on Hip Fractures and Bone Health. April 10, 1991, Bethesda, Md. H) May, DS and Wilson MG.  Hip fractures in relation to water fluoridation: an ecologic analysis.  Presented at the Workshop on Drinking Water Fluoride Influence on Hip Fractures and Bone Health.  April 10, 1991, Bethesda, Md.

Fact #4   Fluoridation increases Dental fluorosis  NOTE: This fact is no longer being contested.

A)  Science Vol. 217, pp. 26-30 (1982) B)  Journal of the American Dental Association Vol. 108, pp. 56-59 (1984) C)  Journal of  public Health Dentistry Vol. 46, pp. 184-187 (1986) D)  Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride, National Research Council, page 37 (1993)

 Fact #5   Tooth decay and dental care costs are not reduced. There are no broad based blinded studies of animals or humans which has ever found a significant reduction in tooth decay rates of permanent teeth in fluoridated areas.

A) Colquhoun, J. Child Dental Health Differences in New Zealand, Community Health Studies Vol. 11:2, pp. 85-90 (1987) B) Journal of the Canadian Dental Association,  Vol. 53, pp. 763-765 (1987) C) Fluoride Vol. 23, pp. 55-67 (1990) D) California Department of Health records of actual DentiCal cost Unpublished research for Writ of Mandate Citizens Against Fluoridation vs. Attorney General Dan Lungren 7/1996 E) Colquhoun, J. Influence of social class and fluoridation on child dental health Community Dent Oral Epidemiol Vol. 13, pp. 37-41, 1985 F) Gray, AS Fluoridation Time for a New Base Line J Canadian Dent. Assoc. Vol. 10, 1987 G) Yiamouyiannis, J  “National Institute Dental Research study shows no relationship between fluoridation and tooth decay rate” American Laboratory 5/1989

Fact #6   Fluoride is drops and tablets are not FDA approved or proven effective

A)  Letter from Frank R. Fazzari, Chief, Prescription Drug Compliance, Food and Drug Administration to New Jersey Assemblyman John Kelly  (June 8, 1993) B)  Preventing Tooth Decay: Results from a Four-Year National Study, Robert Wood-Johnson Foundation, Special Report number, pp. 18,  (Feb. 1983) C)  Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, Vol. 19, pp. 88-92 (1991) D)  1992 Physicians’ Desk Reference, page 2273. Sincerely,                                        

David C. Kennedy, D.D.S.