Letters to the Editor

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Anecdotes and science

Posted: 02/15/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Advising people to stop eating junk to save their teeth hasn�t worked (TRIBUNE MEDIA MCT)

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Henri Marcoux (Letters, Feb. 7) found over a million Google hits buttressed his case there is no evidence to conclude fluoride should be added to our water systems. If he read those hits, he would find that there is definitive research to show fluoride promotes tooth health and fluoride is safe, if ingested in appropriate concentrations.

The fact is it is more effective in the fight against tooth decay to add fluoride to water systems than to try to get people to stop eating junk food. Medical doctors have been trying the latter for years without a lot of success.

Adam Smith (Letters, Feb. 7) asserts dentists only study the teeth. The first two years of dental school are virtually identical in curriculum to that of medical school. I have two sons who are dentists and they spent eight years in university getting their BSc with biochemistry specialization, as well as their DMD. They were chosen out of several hundred applicants to be in a class of 29. They come eminently qualified, and I would trust their judgment far sooner than that of the myriad of holistic health care wannabees who love to preach their gospel without any credentials.

The most compelling evidence to me is that which comes anecdotally. It is well known that in geographical areas where no fluoridation of the public water supply exists, the population has a higher rate of tooth decay and this means money in the dentists' pockets.

So why then, would dentists be promoting fluoridation if by doing so they are reducing their patient load, and hence, their income? It is because they care about their patient's health and they are, without a doubt, the best qualified to articulate this.

BILL HEAD

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 15, 2013 $sourceSection0

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