FAN Bulletin 806

May 13, 2007

Dear All,

I am happy to announce two things: 1) a new video on fluoridation from Ireland is now up on Google video and 2) the FAN homepage offers an easy one stop “shopping” for all 7 of the Google videos on fluoridation. All you have to do to watch any of these videos is to go the home page http://www.FluorideAction.net. The videos are at the top of the page. Simply click on any one of the titles and you are there!

When I am at home, I track the numbers of people watching these videos on a daily basis. Currently, “The Fluoride Deception” (FAN’s interview with Chris Bryson) tops the list with 27,871 viewings. Coming in second is the UK program “Don’t Swallow Your Toothpaste” with 2,149 viewings and this jumped by 321 yesterday. Someone must have posted information on that somewhere; does anyone have any ideas on where that happened? Third is the program from Australia with 1266 viewings. Next with over 1000 viewings is the FOX-TV program from Boston dealing with Chester Douglass’s cover-up of his student’s findings on osteosarcoma. Fifth is the warning from Tennessee with 625, and sixth is the televised debate from Canada with 612. I am sorry that this program is trailing because getting a debate on this issue is rare enough but having it televised is even rarer. I still live in hope that our contacts in Canada will get their friends and colleagues to watch this. The Irish entry, of course, because it has only just been posted, is at seventh position with 31 viewings, but that number should jump quickly.

The Irish video takes on a special significance because the Irish election is coming up in a few days and John Gormley, the leader of the Irish Green Party, is being hammered because of his stance on fluoridation. At a recent press conference he had the courage to announce that if the Green Party holds the balance of power it will call for the halt of fluoridation. Immediately the Irish Times, which hitherto has steadfastedly ignored all the accumulating negative information on this sorry practice, went into action and attacked the Green Party position. This was followed by a pseudo scientific piece by a “science” writer who knew so little about the issue that he relied on dentist Joe Mullen - one of the most doctrinaire promoters of fluoridation on the planet - as his source. He didn’t even mention the NRC review, while declaring that “science” shows that fluoridation is “safe and effective”. Letters to the Irish Times critiquing this article have not been printed. Now the Irish Medical News has joined the battle for fluoridation (see article below. Note: Dr. Seamus O’Hickey can’t even get the number of countries fluoridating right he quotes the ADA/BFS propaganda figure of 60, rather than the actual number which is less than 30. So much for “evidenced-based” information!). Meanwhile, for three weeks, Robert Pocock has been trying to get one of the Irish papers to carry an op-ed piece from me, but so far to no avail. So Gormley is being pummeled, with no visible public defense.

When you watch this video you will see, in the first part, Robert Pocock spell out the issue, only to be met by the fatherly re-assurances of a very pleasant looking former President of the Irish Dental Association. He has the real gift of the “blarney.” You will find it interesting to count the number of “mistakes” that this man makes. But there are more to come when John Gormley takes on an Irish research expert. Another charmer. In my view, both Pocock and Gormley do extremely well but I will leave you to judge whether these ever so nice spokespeople for fluoridation come away with or without their “authority” seriously damaged.

It utterly amazes me that mandatory fluoridation in Ireland hangs on despite all the evidence which makes this practice so unnecessary and foolish today. How does one cut through the “charm” of its charmed life?

Meanwhile, if you have any idea how to get people in Ireland to wake up – and certainly encourage them not to penalize John Gormley for doing the right thing – please do so. If nothing else please send an email to him thanking him for his efforts to end fluoridation. His email address is johngormley@eircom.net. Better still, if you live in Ireland please go to Dublin and help in his campaign.

Paul Connett

www.irishmedicalnews.ie/articles.asp?Category=Letter&ArticleID=18752

‘No scientific evidence to prove fluoridated water is in any way harmful’

Dr Seamus O’Hickey, Chair­man, Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health, 26 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2

I refer to Fluoridated water is poisoning our bodies from Ailsa Boyden – a letter to the editor (IMN, 30/4/07).

This letter outlined scientifically unfounded connections between water fluoridation and the incidence of a range of diseases.

The independent, evidence-based body, Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health, would like to reassure readers that there is no scientific evidence worldwide to suggest that water fluoridation at optimum levels causes any ill medical effects.

Water fluoridation is one of the most widely studied public policy initiatives in the world, with approximately 350 million people in some 60 countries globally residing in areas served by optimally fluoridated water supplies.

The Expert Body would like to stress that there continues to be robust evidence that water fluoridation significantly benefits dental health in Ireland across the entire population. It is an important counterbalance to poor oral health practises and higher levels of snacking on sugary foods and drinks amongst Irish teenagers.

Oral health surveys in Ireland since the 1960s have clearly demonstrated the benefits of Ireland’s policy of water fluoridation with a significant reduction in dental decay evident across all sectors of Irish society.

Indeed, since its introduction in Ireland, there has been a 40 per cent reduction in decayed, missing, and filled teeth in Ireland for children living in areas supplied by fluoridated drinking water.

The effectiveness of water fluoridation in preventing dental decay continues to be endorsed by a comprehensive range of international bodies including the World Health Organisation, the Centre for Disease Control and Pre­vention, the US Public Health Service and the US Surgeon General. Indeed, the absence of water fluoridation would see the average five year-old child in the Republic of Ireland having four to five more decayed, missing, or filled teeth.