Newsletter Vol 1

Latest Research News

2018 Studies by Slade, Sanders, Maas, et al. Demonstrate Effectiveness of Fluoridation, and Improvement in Health Disparities of the Underserved Population

The first study, Water Fluoridation and Dental Caries in US Children (published in the June, 14 ,2018 edition of the Journal of Dental Research) sought to evaluate associations between availability of community water 􀃓uoridation (CWF) and dental caries experience in the U.S. child and adolescent population. Using County-level estimates of the percentage of population served by CWF (% CWF) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Water Fluoridation Reporting System merged with dental examination data from 10 y of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1999 to 2004 and 2011 to 2014) the study concluded:

“These findings confirm a substantial caries-preventive benefit of CWF for U.S. children and that the benefit is most pronounced in primary teeth.”

The second study, Water Fluoridation Lessens Income-Related Inequality in Dental Caries of U.S. Children and Adolescents ( G. Slade, A. Sanders, published in JAMA Pediatrics) it was noted:

This is the first U.S. study to show evidence that water fluoridation attenuates income-related inequalities in dental caries. The degree of attenuation was less pronounced in the permanent dentition, possibly because the level of decay was about half that of primary teeth. Greater attenuation in the permanent dentition might be seen in early adulthood, as the burden of Decayed, Missing, Filled Surfaces doubles between adolescence and early adulthood.”

Criticisms of Recent NTP Study Without Merit

The recent animal study by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) has predictably concluded no adverse cognitive effects on rats, resulting in equally predictable criticism of the study by the same fluoridation opponents who had initially requested the study be performed, promoted it as “what could be the most significant scientific development of them all” lauding the NTP for its “cutting-edge scientific tools”, and claimed it “could end fluoridation”. (Fluoridealert December 11, 2015)

As would be expected, once it became public that the results of this study did not support the claims of opponents, the usual conspiracy/corruption, improper methods, and other groundless claims, began being leveled at the NTP study by those same opponents who had themselves requested and promoted the study and the integrity of the NTP.

In response to these criticisms, principle author of the NTP study, Dr. Jean Harry, stated the following:

The rationale for strain selection was based on three factors.

• For learning and memory tasks requiring detection of visual cues, rats with pigmented eyes offer better visual acuity than albino rats (Prusky et al 2002). As presented in the NTP systematic review, longer latencies for learning and memory tasks in fluoride-exposed rats raised the possibility that some deficits may also be due to compromised vision.

• The Long-Evans Hooded rat is a cross-breed of Wistar albino females with wild gray males. Thus, it allowed us to stay with the predominant Wistar rat genetic background yet have the benefit of pigmented eyes.

• Research groups such as National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have long employed Long-Evans Hooded rats for behavioral tests such as those used in the McPherson et al (2018) paper, and such research provided us a strong historical database for the behavior in rats maintained on the standard diet used in the McPherson et al (2018) study.

In summary, far from generating “false results” that may “misinform the public”, our data utilize an exposure level near the recommended level for human exposure and provide an extensive, systematic evaluation of sensory, motor, and cognitive function in a relevant animal model. Instead of misleading regulators and the public, the results of the McPherson et al (2018) help clarify a generally confusing database and can only facilitate decisions concerning the safety of fluoride exposure through the drinking water.

The Story of the “F-Yeah!” Shirts

In May 2013, public health advocates in Portland, OR lost an emotional campaign to end their city’s distinction of being the the largest city in the United States that doesn’t fluoridate its public water supply.

Portland is the home to AFS Treasurer, Dr. Kurt Ferré, and a dental colleague who lives in the same neighborhood. It is also home to the sister of the colleague, who thought that the lawn sign with a smiley mouth for the pro-fluoridation campaign, was “too nice”. Being a high school chemistry teacher she took it upon herself to create a limited edition of her own, edgy, lawn sign for “Portlandia”. Taking the symbol for Fluorine from the Periodic Table she stenciled “Yeah!” to its right and placed the ballot measure number at the bottom. One of these creative lawn signs was placed in front of the home of her brother, the dentist friend of Dr. Ferré. Of course, Ferré noticed the sign immediately.

Win or lose there are always “lessons learned” from a political campaign. Dr. Ferré was asked to speak about the Portland fluoridation campaign at the 2014 National Oral Health Conference (NOHC) in Ft. Worth. Wanting to end his talk on a positive (and humorous) note, Dr. Ferré told the story of the “F Yeah!” lawn sign, held up the sign, and shouted “F Yeah! This was met with enthusiastic applause. A dental hygienist friend of Ferré’s immediately approached him afterwards and said, “Kurt, we need to make T-shirts with ‘F Yeah!’ on the fronts of them.

Since 2015 the AFS has had an exhibit booth at the NOHC spreading the word about the AFS “boots on the ground” advocacy for fluoridation, and selling tees. The edgy nature of the front of the tee has made for an excellent conversation starter, especially at dental and public health conferences. However, wearing the tee out in public was often met with blank stares. The board decided that the word “FLUORIDATION” placed above the F symbol might be a better configuration. The edgy “F Yeah!” would catch the attention of people, who would then notice the word “FLUORIDATION”.

While the new design will be the only one officially available from the AFS, as some Oregon public health colleagues have expressed a preference for the edginess of the original front logo, that logo will be available upon request.

The new tees will be available at the 2019 NOHC in Memphis in April. For any who can’t wait until then, however, tees can be ordered by contacting Kurt Ferré at kferre51@gmail.com . Cost is $20.00 + $5.00 for postage and handling.