He writes: "It prevents dental caries and has no negative side effects aside from a slight staining of teeth in a small number of cases which is easily treatable."

Does it prevent dental caries? Very unlikely when even leading dental researchers and promoting agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concede that the major benefit from fluoride is TOPICAL not SYSTEMIC i.e. It works from the outside the of the tooth not from the inside of the body (CDC, 1999, 2001).

This mechanism of action probably explains why the largest survey of tooth decay in the US found only a very small average saving of just 0.6 of one permanent tooth surface between children who had lived all their lives drinking fluoridated water and those drinking non-fluoridated water (Brunelle & Carlos, 1990). Subsequent studies and reviews have found even less (Spencer et al, 1996; Locker, 1999; Armfield and Spencer, 2004 and Pizzo et al., 2007). A recent survey of tooth decay in third graders in NY state found that the average tooth decay by county bore no relation to the percentage of the population in the county drinking fluoridated water. WHO data for 12 year olds show that tooth decay is falling as rapidly in non-fluoridated countries as fluoridated ones.

Are there only a few cases of dental fluorosis in Ireland? I hardly think so unless some leprechaun gives the Irish extra protection! The York Review (2000) concluded that worldwide at 1 ppm, 48% of children had some level of dental fluorosis (a permanent discoloration and mottling of the enamel). In the US, the CDC (2005) has reported that over 30% of American children have dental fluorosis, and the frequency in fluoridated communities approaches 40%. That’s a lot of kids.

Does it have no negative side effects other than dental fluorosis? It would be a miracle if it turns out that while fluoride is visibly damaging the growing tooth by some systemic process, that the same process is not damaging other tissues. Ireland’s greatest protection in this regard is coming from the Irish government’s 44 year failure to conduct any health studies. They have funded no studies on the bone (arthritis, osteoporosis or hip fracture); thyroid function; osteosarcoma (a frequently fatal bone cancer); early onset of puberty; irritable bowel syndrome; IQ or hyperactivity – just endless studies on teeth. Providing a gravy train for dental researchers who go along for the ride. But for health effects, if you don’t look, you don’t find.

Meanwhile, the miracle of immaculate protection from fluoride has become even less likely with the publication of the 500 page National Research Council review of fluoride's toxicity (NRC, 2006). Dr. Devins might feel that the level of fluoride used in fluoridation programs – 1 ppm - is small but it is actually 250 times the level in mothers milk (0.004 ppm, NRC, 2006). This means that a bottle fed baby in a fluoridated community (when the formula is made up with tap water) is going to get 250 times more fluoride than nature intended, at a time when its blood brain barrier is not fully developed. There have now been over 40 animal studies which indicate that fluoride can damage the brain, at levels as low as 1 ppm in their drinking water (Varner et al, 1998), and 18 human studies that show that children’s IQ can be lowered by fluoride exposure at levels as low as 1.8 ppm (Xiang et al., 2003).

Dr. Devins’ ill-informed defense of the fluoridation program borders on the reckless. He has clearly forgotten the time honored motto of his medical profession: First Do No Harm.

Dr. Paul Connett,

Professor Emeritus of Chemistry,

St. Lawrence University,

Canton, NY 13617.