Tooth decay declined substantially in prevalence and severity when
Hong Kong children consumed less fluoride, indicative of a world-wide
scientific trend revealing, with fluoride, less is best; none is better.
In
1988, Hong Kong reduced water fluoride levels from 0.7 parts per
million (ppm) to 0.5 ppm. By 1995, 31% fewer 11-year-olds had cavities
with a 42% reduction in average cavity rates, according to the Hong Kong
Public Health Bulletin (1). Similar reductions occurred in 1978 when
Hong Kong's fluoridation rates were first cut from 1 ppm to 0.7 ppm (2).
Hong
Kong's dental health is superior to the United States' (3), even though
U.S. children consume 1 ppm fluoridated water and brush with 1,000 ppm
fluoridated toothpaste. And Hong Kong children use lower concentrated
(500 ppm) fluoridated toothpaste (4).
Evidence that eliminating fluoridation lessens decay:
*
Seven years after fluoridation ended in LaSalud, Cuba, cavities
remained low in 6- to 9-year-olds, decreased in 10- to 11-year-olds, and
significantly decreased in 12- to 13-year-olds, while caries-free
children increased dramatically, according to Caries Research (5).
*
East German scientists report, "following the cessation of water
fluoridation in the cities Chemnitz . . . and Plauen, a significant fall
in caries prevalence was observed," according to Community Dentistry
and Oral Epidemiology (6) . . . Surveys in the formerly-fluoridated
towns of Spremberg and Zittau found "caries levels for the 12-year-olds
of both towns significantly decreased... following the cessation of
water fluoridation."
* In British Columbia, Canada, "the
prevalence of caries decreased over time in the fluoridation-ended
community while remaining unchanged in the fluoridated community,"
reported in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology (7).
* In
1973, the Dutch town of Tiel stopped fluoridation. Researchers counted
decayed, missing, and filled permanent tooth surfaces (DMFS) of Tiel's
15-year olds, then collected identical data from never-fluoridated
Culemborg. DMFS rates initially increased in Tiel then dipped to 11% of
baseline from 1968/69 to 1987/88 while never-fluoridated Culemborg's
15-year-olds had 72% less cavities over the same period, reports Caries
Research (8).
In New York State, cavities and tooth loss are
greater in fluoridated rather than in non-fluoridated counties (9). In
fact, tooth decay crises exist in most, if not all, large fluoridated
U.S. cities (10).
Sometimes stopping fluoridation has no effect as in Kuopio, Finland (11), and Durham, North Carolina (12).
Some
countries show lower decay rates in less fluoridated villages when
compared to higher fluoridated villages such as in Uganda (13, 14), the
Sudan (15) and Ethiopia (15a).
In South Australia, dental
examinations of 4800 ten- to fifteen-year-olds' permanent teeth reveal
unexpected results - similar cavity rates whether they drink fluoridated
water or not (16).
In the United States, despite living without
fluoridated water, rural children's cavity rates equal those of urban
children, who are more likely to drink fluoridated water, according to a
large national government study of over 24,000 U.S. children (17).
