Abstract
ASK ANY DENTIST whether fluoridated water helps prevent tooth decay, and in all likelihood they will reply that the difference between those who drink it and those who don’t is like night and day. Comparative studies have shown that, on average, the incidence of tooth decay among children in fluoridated communities is 15–50% less than it is in nonfluoridated communities. Yet after more than 60 years since the first intentional fluoridation of a public drinking water supply in Grand Rapids, Mich., the benefits and risks of fluoridation continue to be debated. No other public health controversy has been so long-running and so divided, with each side refusing to listen to the other, R. Allan Freeze and Jay H. Lehr note in their book “The Fluoride Wars: How a Modest Public Health Measure Became America’s Longest-Running Political Melodrama.” Advocates of fluoridation say it prevents dental cavities with no health risks. Those opposed question the benefits of ...
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