Raise the Hammer

Hi Jason Firstly, I wonder how your research would have gone if you were still living in Calgary - given that they just decided to eliminate fluoride. As nyscof notes, it's awfully difficult not to go with the flow, even for me.

I'll take issue with your basic argument on several grounds. First, every post menopausal woman is warned about osteoporosis. I assume all females are hoping for a nice long life, so to term widespread health concern as 'outlier' doesn't stand up. Is cancer an outlier? I think this is something everybody, especially taxpayers trying to pay for our health care system, should be concerned about - but it's hard for folks under say 50 to appreciate the slow acting nature of such problems.

Power lines are not a good analogy since electromagnetic effects decrease exponentially through distance, while fluoride builds up in one's bones, brain, etc - isn't that sort of the opposite? Plus we all have wires throughout our houses - ie unavoidable.

The issue of essentially having 'you' medicate me, via politics, I address below. Unfair to say the least. And ineffective, despite your personal good luck.

I might agree to the bottled water approach if the city were to provide me a place to fill up with free water taken from upstream of the fluoridation equipment. My position is that the city is responsible for providing wholesome water. For me, fluoridated water is deleterious not wholesome.

But really, carrying heavy bottles of water is completely contraindicated (borrowing a medical term) for folks with osteoporosis, no?** How much easier (and cheaper) is carrying a tube of toothpaste, not to mention the plastic waste issue? To me the simple and effective idea that brushing is best, as every dentist will tell you, really should trump all other arguments. Brushing allows one to choose the toothpaste that meets one's needs (fluoridated or not). The idea that 99.99999% of the water goes nowhere near your teeth but instead goes into the environment where it builds up to no good, is the silly part of this practice.

**Ok, i know the opposite argument can be made ?;-)
Cheers, Bob