Water Fluoridation Is Again Under Attack, Just Like It Has Been Since the 1940s
What you need to know from science and history before you decide if fluoride in your water is good or bad.
Fluoride in drinking water has been a top achievement of public health to improve oral health in the United States and other countries for decades. The story of water fluoridation begins in the early 20th century when researchers noticed that people living in areas with naturally high fluoride levels in their water had fewer cavities. A dentist by the name of Frederick McKay went to a town in Colorado and noticed that the townspeople tended to have stained teeth. Although their teeth were stained, their teeth were very resistant to tooth decay. The ultimate reason for this was fluoride (a salt containing fluorine) in the water supply. How they got to this conclusion is one example of an epidemiological study:
“Black investigated fluorosis for six years, until his death in 1915. During that period, he and McKay made two crucial discoveries. First, they showed that mottled enamel (as Black referred to the condition) resulted from developmental imperfections in children’s teeth. This finding meant that city residents whose permanent teeth had calcified without developing the stains did not risk having their teeth…
