July 5th, 2023 Children's Oral Health and Fluoride, Communities Supporting Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health
In the early 1950s, health officials in cities across the United States, including those in Seattle, Washington, were eager to replicate the massive success of the first longitudinal fluoridation study in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Seattle-King County Department of Public Health first proposed fluoridating Seattle’s water in 1951. The city council put the proposal to […]
June 22nd, 2023 Children's Oral Health and Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health, Fluoride, Oral Health, and Access to Care, Health Equity
A team of researchers in England examined the impact of fluoride in water and reported “strong evidence for a highly clinically significant reduction” in the amount and severity of tooth decay. This new study, The effect of community water fluoridation on dental caries in children and young people in England: an ecological study, focused on […]
April 6th, 2023 Communities Supporting Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health, Health Equity, Sustain or Initiate Fluoridation in your Community
In the United Kingdom, the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) is urging the government to pursue six strategies to reduce disparities in children’s oral health. One of the six strategies advanced by ADPH is to increase the number of community water fluoridation programs. ADPH describes fluoridation as “the single most effective public health […]
February 1st, 2023 Children's Oral Health and Fluoride, Communities Supporting Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health, Fluoride in the News
City officials and local health advocates in Buffalo, New York, were recently shocked to learn that the city’s water system had stopped fluoridating drinking water in 2015. Regulations established by the Safe Drinking Water Act require a report each April of the previous year’s water quality. Yet, water officials in Buffalo only disclosed this in […]
January 12th, 2023 Facts about Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health, Fluoride in water
Years ago, research papers suggested that calling attention to public health myths and then correcting them could produce an unanticipated “backfire” effect. In other words, people might be more likely to remember the myths than to recall the facts (corrections). This issue has major implications for health educators who promote community water fluoridation. Fortunately, more […]
December 15th, 2022 Facts about Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health, Health Equity
There are proven community-level approaches that protect our teeth by preventing tooth decay. A new color-coded resource from the U.S. Community Preventive Services Task Force summarizes its recommendations to reduce the rate of tooth decay and improve our oral health. Community water fluoridation is one of the strategies that the Task Force recommends. The Task […]
November 22nd, 2022 Facts about Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health
Founder of modern dentistry. Father of operative dentistry. The grand old man of dentistry. Greene Vardiman Black was born in 1836 and took an interest in medicine at age 17 but happened upon and settled into dentistry as a career interest when he was 21. After an apprenticeship that was typical of the time, he […]
October 12th, 2022 Children's Oral Health and Fluoride, Facts about Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health
A new study from Australia strengthens confidence in the safety of fluoridated water with regard to the cognitive and behavioral development of children. The study found no link between greater exposure to fluoridated water and lower scores on key measures of emotional and behavioral development. Drawing from data on more than 2,600 children, this study […]
July 13th, 2021 Communities Supporting Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health
The Surgeon General of the United States is a physician who speaks with unique credibility and perspective. Through the past decades, numerous Surgeons General have issued public statements affirming the importance of community water fluoridation (CWF). Dr. Vivek Murthy, who is now serving in his second stint as Surgeon General, issued such a statement in […]
February 26th, 2021 Facts about Fluoride, Fluoride and Public Health, Fluoride in the News
Following its peer review of a draft research report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) rejected the report’s claim that fluoride is a neurotoxin. The review issued on February 9, 2021 marked the second time in two years that NASEM found insufficient evidence to justify this claim. The monograph that NASEM reviewed […]
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