A more detailed history follows this summary, which encapsulates the essence of the issue.

Also see: The History of Fluoridation in Australia

A Fatal Error
The mistaken assumption that led to the misguided practice of water fluoridation.

The early observations which eventually led to fluoridation were made from 1901 in communities where inhabitants showed an unsightly brown staining on the teeth, known as “Colorado Brown Stain”, now know as dental fluorosis. It was also observed that those parts of the teeth not affected by this condition seemed particularly resistant to decay. In fact later review of such communities showed that the improved dental health was related to calcium and phosphorus levels, not the fluoride level. (Tooth enamel is made of calcium and phosphorus, not fluoride)

It wasn’t until 1931 that analytical techniques determined that all these communities had fluoride levels in drinking water of 2.5 ppm or more, some as high as 8ppm.

The understandable assumption was made that these phenomena were due to the ingestion of the water. After all, all nutrients were assimilated into the body by ingestion, digestion, uptake into the blood, and incorporation into the bodily tissue: there was no reason to believe that fluoride was any different.

From 1931 H Trendley Dean surveyed many US towns to determine the maximum level at which the dental fluorosis did not occur. Although he in fact observed the condition in areas as low as 0.3ppm, in general the critical point appeared to be 1ppm.

The assumption was subsequently made that if the level in water was limited to 1ppm there would be minimal fluorosis (since proven incorrect) but with a significant level of benefit continuing, by way of hardening the tooth enamel to resist decay. This, as said, was on the mistaken but understandable assumption that both phenomena were caused by ingesting the fluoride: both effects would simply be scaled back. This was half right: dental fluorosis is caused by ingestion of fluoride, and subsequent interference with the enamel formation process. Mineralisation of the tooth enamel so as to resist decay, however, is not, as is now known.

It wasn’t until 1999 and 2000 that it was accepted by dental authorities that the beneficial effect of fluoride is topical (by surface contact) not systemic (by ingestion). In 1989 it had been proved that a minimum fluoride level of 2ppm was required to produce this topical effect.

1855. Smelters in Freiburg, Germany first paid damages to neighbours injured by fluoride emissions.

1901. A young dental school graduate named Frederick McKay left the East Coast to open a dental practice in Colorado Springs, Colorado. McKay was astounded to find scores of Colorado Springs natives with grotesque brown stains on their teeth. This became known as "Colorado brown stain", now known as dental fluorosis.

1909. Independently, Dr. F. L. Robertson, a dentist in Bauxite, Arkansas, noted the presence of mottled enamel among children after a deep well was dug in to provide a local water supply.
The same year, renowned dental researcher Dr. G.V. Black came to Colorado Springs and collaborated with McKay on the mysterious ailment.
Black commented "This is much more than a deformity of childhood. If it were only that, it would be of less consequence, but it is a deformity for life."
Black investigated fluorosis for six years, until his death in 1915. During that period, he and McKay made two crucial discoveries:
1. Mottled enamel resulted from developmental imperfections in children's teeth.
2. Teeth afflicted by Colorado Brown Stain were surprisingly and inexplicably resistant to decay.
As recorded above, those early towns had 2.5ppm fluoride or more. Hence there was sufficient fluoride to give a beneficial topical effect, following the 1989 findings, which researchers at the time could not have known. This is what was causing the resistance to decay; the topical effect, not the swallowing.

The mistaken assumption that water at 1ppm would still give beneficial resistance to decay led to the proposal for water fluoridation. The error would, nevertheless, have been proven had the fluoridation experiments Grand Rapids and Newburgh been conducted scientifically. But of course they were not. More importantly, the dentists Frisch and Bull pushed the US PHS into premature endorsement of fluoridation before these experiments were even 5 years into their 10-15 planned duration (in 1949-1950). Once this premature commitment was made, the experiments had to show the desired results, no matter what. As proof of the lack of benefit, as would be expected from the 2 ppm minimum, all European countries who did complete 10-20 year studies without political interference, found no benefit and rejected fluoridation. In fact the Health Ministry of Sweden published an official statement in 1972 stating that although the early results seemed promising, the results from the full 10 years showed no benefit.

There can be no excuse, however, for the Dental Associations of the English-speaking Western world subsequently deliberately suppressing any research which (correctly) contradicted the fluoridation theory, and launching character assassinations against those scientists who sought to reveal the truth about this misguided practice.

The problem today is that promoters have been claiming that fluoridation at 1ppm is “safe and effective” for so long, in the face of unequivocal scientific evidence to the contrary, that they do not know how to get off the roller coaster without facing law suits and loss of all credibility.

But just as the “authorities” who insisted in ancient times that the earth was flat and the centre of the universe, had, eventually, to bow to scientific proof to the contrary, so, eventually, will today’s flat-earthers who likewise cite “authorities” in the face of the clear scientific evidence: the promoters of the misguided practice of water fluoridation.

1923. McKay travelled to Oakley, Idaho to meet with parents who had noticed peculiar brown stains on their children's teeth. This began appearing shortly after Oakley constructed a communal water pipeline to a warm spring five miles away. McKay analyzed the water, but found nothing suspicious in it. Nonetheless, he advised town leaders to abandon the pipeline altogether and use another nearby spring as a water source. McKay's advice did the trick. Within a few years, the younger children of Oakley were sprouting healthy secondary teeth without any mottling. But it remained a mystery as to what was in the water.

The answer came when McKay and Dr. Grover Kempf of the United States Public Health Service (PHS) travelled to Bauxite, Arkansas-a company town owned by the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA)-to investigate reports of the familiar brown stains. The two discovered that the mottled enamel disorder was prevalent among the children of Bauxite, but nonexistent in another town only five miles away.

McKay and Kempf published a report on their findings that reached the desk of ALCOA's chief chemist, H. V. Churchill, who had spent the past few years refuting claims that aluminum cookware was poisonous. He became worried that this report might provide fresh fodder for ALCOA's detractors.

Using photospectrographic analysis in 1931, Churchill found that the water was high in fluoride.

1931. Drs. Smith determined that even 0.9ppm can cause fluorosis. "The Cause of Mottled Enamel, a Defect of Human Teeth" Univ Ariz Agric Exp Sta Tech Bull No 32, (1931).

Credit was however given to ALCOA’s researchers: Churchill "The Occurrence of Fluorides in Some Waters of the United States" Journal of American Water Works Assn 23: 1399 (1931) Churchill wrote to McKay on this new revelation. Samples from Colorado were collected and also proved high in fluoride.

This revelation led to the establishment in 1931 of the Dental Hygiene Unit at the National Institute of Health headed by Dr. H. Trendley Dean who began investigating the epidemiology of fluorosis so that new restrictive standards could be set for natural fluoride levels. First developing an analytical method accurate to 0.1ppm, from 1932-1937 Dean conducted surveys to determine the prevalence of dental fluorosis in various States of the USA. He observed fluorosis in communities with as little as 0.3 ppm. Dean was a public dentist, not a medical doctor, yet without any research into toxicology he stated in 1937: "Amounts of fluoride not exceeding 1ppm are of no public health significance" without quoting a total daily intake.

Meanwhile, throughout the 1930’s Aluminium and Superphosphate companies, like ALCOA and Reynolds Metals, were successfully sued for millions of dollars for damage to crops, pastures, and livestock from fluoride fumes.

Back at the Mellon Institute, ALCOA's Pittsburgh industrial research lab, this news was galvanic. There, biochemist Gerald J. Cox immediately fluoridated some lab rats in a study and concluded that fluoride reduced cavities and that: "The case should be regarded as proved." In a historic moment in 1939, the first public proposal that the U.S. should fluoridate its water supplies was made not by a doctor, or dentist, but by Cox, an industry scientist working for a company threatened by fluoride damage claims and burdened by the odious expense of disposing of tons of toxic industrial waste. Cox began touring the country, stumping for fluoridation. Dean would go on to carve out a nice career for himself as the "father" of public water fluoridation.

1933. McClure, who later became a leading proponent of fluoridation, shows enzyme interference from fluoride. ("A review of Fluorine and its Physiological Effects" Physiol Rev 13:289 (1933))

1936. HT Dean promotes the theory that fluoride makes teeth more resistant to decay.

1937. Acknowledgement of the importance of other minerals, apart from fluoride, in dental health :Mills CA "Factors affecting the incidence of Dental Caries on Population Groups" J Dent Res 16:417 (1937)

1938. HT Dean acknowledged that other mineral content of water, especially calcium and phosphorus, may be as relevant as fluoride: “Endemic Fluorosis and its relation to Dental Caries” Public Health Reports 53: 1452 (19 Aug 1938)

Two scientists at New Mexico University (Clark and Mann) conduct the first State-wide survey of drinking water in New Mexico, identifying fluoride contents up to 12ppm. Of 157 communities 35 showed fluoride content “above the danger point of 0.9 ppm." The authors set the dividing line of toxicity between 0.8 and 1ppm. A university release classified this as "hopelessly out of date", with no further research evidence to support this claim, once the Newburgh experiment at 0.9-1.2ppm was initiated.

Dr Wallace D Armstrong and PJ Brekhus claimed their analysis of tooth enamel showed less fluoride in decayed teeth than healthy teeth.

For studies into dental decay GJ Cox received grants from the Buhl Foundation at the Mellon Institute, and from the Sugar Institute. Up until this point in 1939, fluoride had been targeted for removal from food and water supplies because of its recognised toxicity. (GJ Cox "New Knowledge of Fluorine in Relation to Dental Caries" J Am Waterworks Assn 3: 1926 (1939). Cox was the first to promulgate the idea that fluoride may be necessary for tooth formation.

From being a troublesome industrial pollutant, fluoride suddenly became a desirable medication, and the fluoride-producing industries had a market for their toxic wastes. In 1955 Dean admitted that the graphs and charts on which he based his theory that fluoride makes teeth decay-resistant were invalid. (see below)

In the early 1940’s Cox promoted fluoridation like crazy, becoming a member of the National Research Council, compiling several summaries of fluoride research, becoming one of "the experts". Cox had already completed research showing no benefit to the teeth of rat offspring at up to 20.6 ppm in the water of pregnant and lactating mother rats, and that humans are more sensitive to fluoride toxicity than rats:

1. GJ Cox, MC Matuschak, SF Dixon. ML Dodds, WE Walker "Experimental Dental caries IV Fluorine and its Relation to Dental Caries" J Dent Res 18: 481-90 (1939)

2. GJ Cox, MC Matuschak, SF Dixon, WE Walker "Mottled Enamel in rat Molars": Science 90: 83 (1939)

1939. New York water authorities propose a maximum level of 0.1 ppm based Dean’s 1937 statement (that 1ppm was safe) and a safety factor of 10. However the fluoridation movement adopted 1ppm as a safe level, without any toxicological studies.

1940. Drs Mr &Mrs Smith: "Although mottled teeth are somewhat more resistant to the onset of decay, they are structurally weak; when decay does set in, the result is often disastrous." Smith M, Smith H "Observations on the Durability of Mottled Teeth" American Journal of Public Health 30:1050 (1940)

The study was conducted in St David Arizona. Water fluoride levels were 1.6 – 4 ppm. Very few persons over 21 were free of dental caries. There was a high incidence of extracted teeth in all age groups with over 50% false teeth at ages 24-26.

Fillings would not anchor in the structurally weakened teeth, which had then to be removed.

1943. Tooth decay studied in Hereford and Colorado Springs. Both had 2.5 ppm fluoride, but there was high tooth decay in Colorado Springs yet low rates in Hereford. There were, however, high phosphorus levels in Hereford foods. Phosphorus is an important mineral for bones and teeth. This recognition that Hereford's other minerals were involved was again confirmed in 1965.

Dr Ast, main investigator of the Newburg experiment: "[dental fluorosis is] the first objective indication of chronic fluoride poisoning."

FA Arnold, NIDR advocated fluoridation in the Journal of the American Dental Association, Vol 30:499-508 (1943) "Role of Fluorides in Preventive Dentistry" on the basis of Cox’s experiments and the invalid Armstrong-Brekhus analysis. He acknowledged the possibility of cumulative toxic effects but casually dismissed it as "rather remote".

Meanwhile, the "Manhattan Project" had produced the atomic bomb. The radioactive Uranium was separated by first turning all the Uranium ore into Uranium Hexafluoride. The fluoride fumes caused serious health problems in workers, notably Central Nervous System damage, later to be confirmed by Dr Phyllis Mullinex in laboratory trials in 1995, at Forsyth Dental School. The US Government was facing law suits over fluoride exposure and was looking for a way of denying harm in such actions. Its subsequent involvement in the Newburgh-Kingston experiment was revealed in documents released under the US Official Secrets Act in 1997.

Journal of the American Medical Association describes fluoride as:
"Fluorides are general protoplasmic poisons, with the capacity to modify cell metabolism, changing the permeability of the cell membrane by inhibiting certain enzymes. Sources of fluoride intoxication include drinking water containing 1ppm or more of fluorine."

1945. Cox's hypothesis was also a godsend for those interested in dental health which, in contrast to the great medical advances made in the 20th century, had made no such advances. This led to four initial experiments: Grand Rapids, Newburgh, Evanston, and Brantford.

Grand Rapids

The fluoridation experiment in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was originally sponsored by the U.S. Surgeon General, but taken over by the NIDR (a unit within the PHS) shortly after the Institute's inception in 1948. This was planned as a 15 year project, but the control city, Muskegon, was fluoridated in 1951 (the same year as the infamous Conference, and the year following the PHS' premature "go-ahead" for fluoridation) . It had shown the same rate of dental improvement as Grand rapids, which was not politically acceptable, so the experiment was reported as a success by quoting only the "before and after" results of Grand Rapids, and excluding the Muskegon figures.

Later the methodology was found so poor that no conclusions could validly be drawn, yet this was one of the experiments quoted worldwide, even today, as "conclusive proof" of the alleged benefits of fluoridation: Lack of standardisation of data gathering methods, personal examiner bias, inadequate control of studies, relatively short exposure when a lifetime exposure is contemplated. In related studies, there was an 89% deviation in the average number of caries recorded in 33 teeth by 8 dentists. JC Boyd, NE Wessels: "Epidemiological Studies in Dental Caries III: The interpretation of Clinical Data Relating to Caries Advance" Am J Public Health 41: 967-986 (1951).

Examination of the data also showed that the claimed 53% improvement over the first 4 years was an alleged 80% improvement in the first year, and and worsening over the next 3. The 80% improvement in 1 year is of course impossible. It was then discovered that only a selection of the original children were studied after the initial survey. Further, at one point the figures for 11 year olds were better than the figures for the previous year for 10 year olds, when (supposedly) the same children were a year younger. Again this is impossible, proving the statistcial base was so corrupt as to be useless.

1956. The Grand Rapids data is published after 7 years. It is analysed by KK Paluev, a professional statistician. he concludes that no permanent improvement was achieved but only a 1-3 year delay. The results are also analysed by a New York professional statistics company: Standard Audit and Measurement Service Inc. 89 Broad St NY: Data was described as "raw" "not capable of being checked", sampling design of the experiment was "embarrassingly conspicuous by its absence", "variations were not accounted for", and that the authors "gave no attention" to possible other (confounding) factors involved.

After 17 years 19.3% of white and 40.2% negro children had dental fluorosis. After only 4 years deaths from heart disease cancer brain disease diabetes hardening of arteries had increased 25-50% over Michigan as a whole. (1950 census) The population increase was 7.8% 1940-1950. (published in The Press Grand Rapids 28 July 1955.) The PHS published bogus figures, disproved by official records, to cover this up. (A Struggle With Titans p173.)

Note that this experiment was supervised by Arnold, who advised T Ludwig on how to run the Hastings experiment in New Zealand. In 1986 Dr John Colquhoun of Auckland uncovered National Archive documents which revealed precisely the same flaws in methodology, leading to equally false conclusions, and the claim of 60% improvement, still promoted today by the NZ Ministry of Health.

Newburgh

The same year a second experiment began in Newburgh, NY, with Kingston as the control city, planned as a 10 year study into both the possible benefits and possible adverse effects of fluoride. At the 1951 State Dental Directors Conference, Dr Bain, who was on the technical committee, acknowledged that it had hoped to keep its findings secret until the 10 years was up, only then advising if any adverse health effects had been found. This aspect of the study was controlled by a group from the Manhattan project, who wanted to keep quiet any adverse effects which could be used against them in the pending court actions mentioned earlier.

The people of Newburgh were also given dental hygiene information, and topical treatments, in addition to fluoridating the water, invalidating the comparison with Kingston. The published results after 7 years of the trial were analysed by independent statisticians who, aside form identifying "embarrassingly" inadequate methodology or sampling techniques, concluded that no permanent improvement was evidenced in Newburgh, and predicted that shortly the decay rates would exceed those of Kingston. This in fact happened and today Kingston continues to have less tooth decay than the fluoridated Newburgh, a result consistent with the New Zealand Hastings-Napier experiment.

Fluoride levels varied by up to 900% between individuals, hence averages as the basis of safety conclusions were not only worthless, but dangerous. FA Smith, DE Gardner, HC Hodge "Investigation on the Metabolism of Fluoride, Fluoride Content of Blood and Urine as a Function of the Fluoride in Drinking water" J Dent Res 29: 596-600 (1951)

The Newburgh experiment director, Dr Ast, originated the idea of fluoridating without citizen’s knowledge. (see 1969, Michigan.)

1946. JJ Frisch launched a campaign to fluoridate his home town of Madison, Wisconsin, 1 year after the Newburgh and Grand Rapids studies began; 9 years before adverse health data was expected to be available.
Frisch enlisted Frank Bull, who immediately launched a political campaign to adopt fluoridation in Madison.

The council composed a committee which, after studying the evidence, advised against fluoridation, largely because of the time the experiments were to run.( EB Hart., Professor Emeritus, Wisconsin University, before a Congressional Committee, 6 years later)

Bull and Frisch persisted. The council approached the US PHS who advised "many years of research are needed before fluoridation can be implemented on a general basis. [The studies may take 12-15 years to determine a final answer].Mass fluoridation cannot yet be recommended."

1947. Oscar Ewing took a leave of absence form his law firm of Hughes, Hubbard, and Ewing, solicitors for ALCOA, where he was earning approximately $750,000 annually. He became Director of the US Federal Security Agency directing, amongst others, the US PHS, on a salary of $120,000.

Although the PHS had initially taken a cautious approach to fluoridation, it was lobbied by a Wisconsin group, including J Frisch and Dr Frank Bull, who argued that there was no need to wait 10-15 years for the results of the Grand Rapids experiment because there were generations of experience with naturally high fluoride areas.

Ewing promoted fluoridation before the permanent teeth of the children in the test cities had erupted. Ewing was later confirmed as the committer of PHS to fluoridation: Hearings on Res 74 and 447 House Select Committee to investigate the Use of Chemicals in Foods and Cosmetics 82nd US Congress 1952.

1948. Dr Weaver was a pro-fluoridation medical officer who had been studying dental decay in Shields England, half of which had high fluoride levels. He went to great lengths to ensure there were no demographic differences when claiming that there was less decay in the high fluoride area. His results, however, supported the delay theory: there was no difference in decay of 15 year olds in South Shields UK at 1.4 ppm fluoride and 12 year olds in N Shields at 0.25ppm: R Weaver "The Inhibition of Dental caries by Fluorine" Proc Royal Soc Med 41: 284 (1948)

He subsequently published in the British Dental Journal his comparison of general medical health. The records showed a significantly higher mortality in the 1.4 ppm area, especially infant mortality (as also shown 1977 by Dr Albert Schatz in Chile). Weaver refused to accept that fluoride was the cause, claiming there must have been some other factor, even though he had ensured there was no other possible factor.

20 people died in Donora Pa. An independent investigation showed this was due to fluoride 12 -25 times higher blood plasma levels than normal. (public health Bulletin 306, 1959) The US PHS covered this up, supporting industry in denial, but never offered an alternative explanation.

1948. Dr Leo Spira Acta Medica Scandinavia showed the presence of fluorine in cigarette smoke.

1949. US promoter Dr Rowlett began lobbying the World Health Organisation to adopt fluoridation as policy, without success.

1965 Okamura and Matsuhisa, Japan Cigarettes: Type ppm fluoride mcg/cig Japanese 163 157 American 236 244

1977 Rose and Marier, NRC Canada: cigarettes may be another significant source of fluoride.

NZ Med J 10 July 1985, reports a study showing uptake of approximately 0.48 mg fluoride per 10 cigarettes. At 30 a day (2 subjects) this is 1.44 mg per fluoride per day: already over the "optimal" amount.

Dr AP Black Florida, is personally responsible for introduction of fluoridation, 3 years before it becomes official PHS policy. (Testimony before Florida State Board of Health Aug 20 1955.) He was a collaborator with HT Dean. As president of the American Water Works Association Black obtained the Association's permissive resolution at its 1949 Convention.

1950. January 1950. ALCOA advertised fluoridation for improving children’s teeth. Journal of the American Water Works Association Vol 42. Advertising was discontinued once the PHS started doing so.

US PHS survey in American Samoa, conducted by USN Capt FL Losee. It reveals almost perfect teeth amongst inhabitants of low to near-zero fluoride areas.

1 June 1950, the PHS announced "Communities desiring to fluoridate their communal water supplies should be strongly encouraged to do so." This endorsement was followed 5 months later by the American Dental Association, and others.

The Sugar Research Foundation with 130 sugar company members 7th annual report: at p23 - its aim is "To discover effective means of controlling tooth decay by methods other than restricting carbohydrate (sugar) intake."

The NSW branch of the Australian Dental Association, the Faculty of Dentistry Sydney University, and the Sydney Institute of Dental research, submitted a report to the Australian Government urging that fluoridation begin.

1951. Ewing persuaded Congress to release $2M for the promotion of artificial fluoridation.

The infamous Conference of State Dental Directors was held, where the main strategist, Dr Frank Bull, told attendees how to get fluoridation into communities by subversive means, against public opposition, and particularly how to deal with concerns over adverse health effects, which had at that time not been sufficiently researched. In particular it was stated that fluoride must be promoted as "absolutely safe" yet was admitted that this was unknown.

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Bull’s promotional tactics were taken up by the American Dental Association, whose representative, Philip Phair, had attended the conference.

The US Surgeon General, Dr Leonard Scheele, became president of WHO, paving the way for its later fluoridation policy.

The American Medical Association is pressured to "fully endorse" fluoridation as safe and effective. The chairman of the AMA’s Public Health Committee, Dr Farrell, proposed that the AMA support fluoridation "in principle" as there was insufficient research on adverse health effects was available.

In fact the main protagonist, F J McClure, who insisted fluoride was absolutely safe, had published articles in 1933 and 1946 stating that the possibility of adverse anti-enzymatic activity could not be disregarded. Once fluoridation was approved "in principle," promoters within the AMA pushed it as hard as they could, with no regard for possible adverse effects.
Note that, similarly, in its correspondence with the NZ Human Rights Commission, the NZMA also stated it supported fluoridation "in principle", rather than the outright commitment to compulsion proposed by the NZDA.

A 63% reduction in decay is shown by brushing with a non-fluoride dentifrice: LS Fosdick "Reduction of Incidence of Dental Caries" JADA 40:133 (1951).

Dr A Taylor PhD, biochemist, Biochemical Institute, Texas University: Original tentative studies showed a shortening of the life of cancer-prone mice fed 0.44ppm fluoride. Two PHS officials visited him (HT Dean, H Andervont). Although Dr Taylor had stated these were preliminary findings, the PHS declared the experiments invalid because there was measurable fluoride in the feed pellets.

McClure repeats his 1933 findings of enzyme interference from fluoride, stating "Anti-enzymatic effects of trace quantities of fluoride cannot be disregarded." ("Non-dental Physiological Effects of Trace Quantities of Fluorine. Dental Caries and Fluorine" a Symposium ed: FR Moulton Am Soc for Advancement of Science p89 Wash DC (1951)). McClure then assures AMA Councils on Pharmacy and Chemistry and on Foods and Nutrition that fluoridation is completely safe.

The National Research Council reports. Its 9 member committee to consider fluoridation was guided by 3 men: promoter Dr Basil Bibby, had carried out research for the Sugar Research Foundation, Dr FF Heyroth assistant director of the Kettering laboratory, financed by ALCOA and other industries with serious fluoride problems, and HT Dean of the PHS. Their final report in 29 November 1951 referenced papers by about 30 authors, all but 2 of whom were closely linked with either the PHS or industry.

By the end of 1951, the US PHS and American Association for the Advancement of Science were apparently endorsing fluoridation. The ADA used these endorsements to gain others, without any subsequent organisations investigating safety or asking for evidence. The more organisations that endorsed it, the more the campaign snowballed. The ADA, as is still the primary tactic, avoided answering the science and simply quoted the endorsements.

Foreign countries established study groups. Their representatives visiting the US were hosted around the Newburgh and Grand Rapids experiments by Scheele, Dean, and Knutson (now Assistant Surgeon General)

Around this time the US Government enlists Edward L. Bernays, since dubbed "the original spin- doctor", to launch a massive public relations campaign. Bernays promoted the tactic of vigorous character assassination of opponents, in the absence of scientific argument.

1952. ALCOA had offered research grants for disposal of its aluminium waste. The USPHS was collaborating closely with industry to in the disbursement of these research funds. (Conflict of interest).(Seattle Times 16 December 1952.)

A. Kantorowicz a German scientist observes no correlation between fluoride and caries in 18 German cities: "Caries Incidence in Communities of North Rhein-Westfallen and the Fluorine Content of their Drinking Water" Deutsch. Zahn. Zeitschrift 7:1017-20 (1952).

Dr L Matthews promoting dentist in Chester, Virginia said "tooth decay among Chester children is about as bad as anywhere else." (New York Herald, 15 May 1952). Chester’s water had 2ppm, unbeknown to Matthews. (See 2001: the same statement is made about Kentucky: promoters don't appear to check their facts any more today than they did 50 years ago.)

The same occurred in Fort Worth Texas in 1953 (see below).

US Select Committee to Investigate the Use of Chemicals in Food and Cosmetics: Examined a wide range of chemicals, many of which were proven carcinogenic but which no one had bothered to check. The Committee had 7 days of hearings on fluoridation, with many scientists expressing concern that the safety of fluoridation was not sufficiently demonstrated.

The National Research Council’s report on fluoridation states regarding the Grand Rapids – Muskegon experiment:
"Concurrently there has been a slight decline in the caries rate reported by Muskegon with its fluoride-free water supply, 22 % in 6 year olds and 28% in 7 yr olds. This is unexplained"!
Yet it still recommended fluoridation.

US Select Committee hearing held on the Newburgh, Grand Rapids, and Evanston experiments. "In none of these experiments is the effect on the adult or old age population being studied [regarding] physiological effects."

"The Committee is of the view that a sufficient number of unanswered questions concerning the safety of this program exist as to warrant a conservative attitude."

The data on 6 and 7 year old children showed no difference in dental caries at that time.
Bone-density studies were planned, but the director advised that none had been conducted due to non-availability of the necessary equipment. (Newburgh) Recognised that one proponent acknowledged that it was "a calculated risk"

"Medicine deals with the prevention, cure, and alleviation of disease. It is safe to say that fluoridation is mass medication without parallel in the history of medicine."

Comparing fluoridation with compulsory vaccination and the risk of contagion in epidemics:
"Community health [in those cases] requires the wishes of the individual to be submerged [in the safety of the community]. Even so a physician administers the medication and watches the patient. Fluoridated water however, must be drunk by everyone and without personal medical supervision and guidance. Furthermore, dental decay is not contagious, nor can it be said to constitute a serious danger to health."

Appendage by AL Miller of Nebraska: "[T]he United States Public Health Service has been premature in urging universal use of fluorides in water … without knowing the results of the experiments now in progress." It also acknowledged that the AMA approval was qualified, not unqualified. The AMA said that question about fluoridation of the water supplies "should be answered by the dental profession". (P1709.)

"In reading through the testimony we find that the very people of the US Public Health Service who now so earnestly urge the use of fluorides in drinking water were, as late as 1950, saying, and I quote: 'The evaluation of the effects of fluorides in water has not been established and must wait until the experiments now in progress are completed.'"

Research by M Massler and I Schour shows that the nutritional status of the population, especially calcium intake, affects the prevalence and degree of mottling caused by [water fluoridation]. The poorer the nutritional status and the lower he calcium intake, the more prevalent and more severe the mottling.

1953. The basis of 1ppm fluoride in the water in temperate climates is established on the basis that 4 glasses of water per day gives 1 mg. This is recommended by NIDR (PHS) based on: FJ McClure "Ingestion of Fluorine and Dental Caries. Quantitative Relations Based on Food and Water Requirements of Children, 1-12 Years Old." Amer J Diseases of Children 66: 362 (1953)

Hastings, New Zealand, becomes the first city to fluoridate outside the USA.

The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC ) assisted in a study of children at the Hopewood Home, Bowral, NSW. The children were fed a healthy diet, and used water with no measurable amount of fluoride. 78% had perfect teeth. The average DMFT was 0.58.

In spite of the Hopewood study the NHMRC first endorses fluoridation. Its task is to advise the Australian government on all matters concerning health of people. Its recommendation was based on the advice of the Dental Research Advisory Committee. It was, nevertheless, conditional:

• That a large proportion of the public desire and that no large proportion oppose, water fluoridation.

• That the need be established for that community, including that the total daily intake be determined.

Promoters claimed this to be an unequivocal endorsement. Deliberations were held in secret, the same as the 1979 Hamer Committee. Even the conditional endorsement was based on the uncompleted US studies. As at 1982 the NHMRC had conducted no research in Australia, but simply kept repeating its original endorsement.

Chile also begins fluoridation, banning it in 1977 due to proven adverse health effects and increased death rates amongst its poor.

Most countries in Europe set up fluoridation trials. All eventually abandon them.

For example Sweden, in 1972 stated publicly that although the results from the first 5 years looked hopeful, the results from the full 10 year study showed no benefit. The early termination of the US trials is interesting to note in this context.

Fort Worth Texas, Council voted for fluoridation in August 1953, yet water already contained up to 1.8 ppm (different supplies). It was listed as "naturally fluoridated" by the PHS in a nationwide release in 1963. Yet dentists started promoting fluoridation again in September 1964. (Fort Worth Star Telegram 20 Sept 1964.)

1954. Canadian Medical Association studies fluoridation and states:

"We don’t know enough about:

• physical and oral damage which may be unrecognisable in the absence of dental fluorosis

• the toxic effect of fluoride over long periods of time

• fluoride levels in relation to fluoride bearing food combined with artificially fluoridated water

• the relation of nutritional factors to the action of fluoride

• the toxicity of fluoride as allied to climate and geography which may increase absorption or diminish excretion."

Evanston Illinois. PHS studies by JR Blayney, well known promoter of fluoridation, reported before the International Association for Dental Research, 1954: persons with kidney disease eliminate only 60% as much fluoride as healthy person with water at 1ppm, but the same amount with water at 0.1ppm. Abstract: J Dent Res 33: 691 (1954)"Evanston Dental Caries Study XIII. Preliminary Report on Comparative Fluorine Retention in human Tissue." The research was never allowed to be published in full.

Dr GF Lull, Secretary AMA "I am aware of the fact that the American Dental Association may only publish what it desires on the subject" Letter to Dr George Waldbott, April 23 1954.

Dr George Waldbott seeks to submit article against fluoridation to AMA for publication. Response:
"[The AMA has] endorsed fluoridation. Any contribution on this subject must therefore first clear the policy making body of our organisation." The same response from the New England Journal of Medicine: "the profession hereabouts is pretty much sold on fluoridation."

The ADA publish a booklet ( "How to Obtain Fluoridation in your community" May 1954) based on Bull’s tactics as preached at the 1951 Conference (see above). They add a section "Downgrading the Public Image of opponents of Fluoridation"

It also advocated that dentist promoters not answer technical questions, but insist that it is unnecessary to do so because US health authorities had endorsed fluoridation therefore any objections had already been addressed. Also that fluoridation be represented as correcting a fluoride deficiency in the water, not as adding medication. This tactic is still followed in New Zealand in 2003). The booklet contained not one single piece of scientific data.

A New York scientist (who asked to remain anonymous) opposed fluoridation over the radio. The following day the Dean of the New York University Dental School advised him that his services were no longer require. When the scientist threatened to publicise the matter it was dropped. These tactics, including the incessant attacks on the competence and intellectual honesty of opponents, were officially promoted by the ADA and its sister organisations around the world, as noted by Dr. George Waldbott, and as seen here in NZ in the Ministry of Health’s statements regarding Drs Burk and Yiammouyannis many years ago, and Dr. Paul Connett on his visit to New Zealand in 2002.

The Fleming Whitfield experiment is the standard reference to the teratogenicity of sodium fluoride.

1955. At the State Public Utilities Commission hearing 20-22 October 1955, FA Arnold, supervisor of the Grand Rapids experiment and leading promoter of fluoridation, admitted on the witness stand that he had no proof of the safety of fluoridation and that he "couldn’t possibly have".

HT Dean admitted that the graphs and charts on which he based his theory that fluoride makes teeth decay-resistant were invalid. (Original research: HT Dean, E Elvove "Some Epidemiological Aspects of Chronic Endemic Fluorosis" Am J of Public Health 26: 569 (1936).)

Dr Elmer Hess, President AMA : "I think most of us in the AMA have to depend on the ADA and the PHS primarily for scientific facts concerning a situation of this kind and I am unable to express an opinion as to whether it is safe or not safe". Letter to Dr George Waldbott August 9 1955.

Journalist George Sokolsky: letter in Journal of the American Dental Association 50:567 1955:
"I find that as many of those whom I interviewed who are members of your association are opposed to the process as favour it. I also find that they live in terror of being quoted. They tell me that they may be brought up (before the ethics committee) on charges should I quote their names. I regard such intimidation of any citizen for whatever reason to be un-American. I should like to see a Congressional Committee investigate this whole subject." (Note that it is currently a breach of the ADA's code of ethics for dentists to oppose fluoridation, in contravention of the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution.)

4 March 1955, the ADA publish a smear letter regarding Dr George Waldbott, who by now is a well known figure in revealing the truth about fluoridation, alleging intellectual dishonesty an incompetence, and that he was associated with a mental institute escapee and an imposter. This was also distributed by the PHS wherever Dr Waldbott spoke or submitted information adverse to fluoridation, for example the NZ Commission of Inquiry. It was also distributed to journal editors or program organisers where Dr Waldbott was likely to speak. (G Waldbott A Struggle With Titans 1965, p66.)

Fluoride toothpaste first marketed. PHS required the following warnings, due to the danger of double dosing with fluoride from the toothpaste and water:

• Not to be used in fluoridated areas

• Not to be used by children under six. (cannot control swallowing response.)(In some countries in 2003 the age is 4)

(Ref: Chemical Week 6 July 1957) Both regulations were abandoned in 1958 even though no adequate safety studies had been done.

1955. Journal of the North Carolina Dental Society Vol 38 p 144 Aug 1955. Dentists RP and DHE Greensboro were suspended from membership for openly opposing fluoridation. The Boston Daily Record 28 Sept 1961: Dr M Ginns was "dropped" from the Massachusetts Dental Society for the same reason.

1956. The New Zealand Commission of Inquiry sits, and the antifluoridation movement becomes national. Not one of the 3 Commissioners was in a position to evaluate scientific medical data in his own. They had to rely on "advisors". A National Archive document shows that this "Inquiry" was "established and guided" by the Health Department, in conjunction with the NZ Dental Association.

Dr JR Herman New York City Urologist, found 1795ppm fluoride in a kidney stone. He was immediately provided with a PHS grant and PHS scientists as “collaborators”, to conduct a second study. This purported to show that fluoride has no bearing on kidney stones.(Se p290) JR Herman "Fluorine in Urinary Tract Calculi" Soc Exp Biol Med 91: 189 (1956).

Dr Ionel Rappaport, analysed PHS statistics from Wisconsin, Illinois, North and South Dakota. Significantly higher levels of Mongolism occurred in levels of high natural fluoride than areas of low natural fluoride: I Rappaport "Mongolism and Fluoridated Drinking Water" The Bulletin of the National Academy of Medicine of France 140: 529 (1956).

Dr Hornung, one of Europe’s most fanatical proponents of fluoridation, was sponsored to come to the US by the American Council on Education to "study" fluoridation in 1955 and 1956, visiting the main battle sites. He stayed with DR Waldbott, a leading opponent of fluoridation, pretending professional interest and friendship. Waldbott writes "I showed him my case studies, and explained that I first used a questionnaire in order to eliminate and which to carefully investigate. The questionnaire served solely for screening purposes." (p229 A Struggle With Titans) Hornung subsequently promulgated the lie that Waldbott accepted any positive answer as proof of fluoride poisoning, along with an unconscionable character assassination. These lies were printed in the Journal of the American Dental Association September 1956.

1957. WF Ramsayer, CAH Smith, CM McCay, "Effect of Sodium Fluoride Administration on Body Changes in Old rats" J Gerontology 12:14 (1957) at Cornell University demonstrated that rats fed throughout their lives with 1ppm water eventually developed periodontoclasia (gum disease) and kidney disturbances. JW Knutson, Asst Surgeon General PHS Dental Division claimed this must have been due to 20-30 times the fluoride level used in fluoridation (9 August 1956) on what basis, since the water was 1ppm, is not known. A new team under the PHS reproduced the same abnormal changes, did not test for fluoride levels, and reported that these effects were due to "old age".(1962)

11 December 1957: 4 of the 6 Michigan delegates of AMA's “House of Delegates” – the AMA's political arm - advise Dr George Waldbott verbally or in writing that they were opposed to fluoridation but stated that to openly oppose fluoridation "was political suicide."

WHO adopt the report of their Expert Committee, favouring fluoridation. 5 of the 7 man Committee were known fluoridation promoters (Expert Committee on Fluoridation, Technical Report 146, WHO, Geneva, 1958). WHO resolved to commission a monograph "Metabolism of Fluorides and their Utilisation in Medicine, Dentistry, and Public Health." Professor Ynge Ericsson of Sweden, a well known ardent proponent of fluoridation (who later acted as advisor to the profluoridation side in the Irish case of Ryan, 1965), acted as special consultant. He commissioned 28 pro-fluoridation scientists of international standing to contribute. Not one scientist involved in research adverse to fluoride was asked to contribute, in fact many requested that they be allowed to submit papers and were refused. This resulted in the 1970 report Fluorides and Human Health.

The typical scenario throughout this era, and still today, is for a committee to be "guided" by 1-3 experts, who are always pro-fluoridation and ensure most of the information put before the committee is pro-fluoride, and that any adverse research is accompanied by a proponent "critique".

1958. New Zealand holds a "fluoridation symposium" along the same lines as the 1951 US conference. It determines to implement fluoridation by "back door" methods and avoid public consultation, like the US. The New Zealand Health Department claims the statements, published in a local newspaper in 1959, were not the views of the department but of an individual participant. That participant was a member, and later chairman, of the department's fluoridation promotion committee. (Col. J Ferris-Fuller)

US OHS study: EF Geever NC Leone, P Geiser, JE Lieberman "Pathological Studies in Man after prolonged Ingestion of Fluoride in Drinking Water" Public Health Reports 73: 721 (Aug 1958). Reported on microscopic examination of bones of subjects in areas of 1-4 ppm fluoride, compared with communities at 0.5ppm. The study found "no significant differences" concluding no harm to bones from fluoride. However on p722 it states "those persons with chronic illness and diseases known to affect the bone structure were excluded". Among the diseases specified, two are associated with chronic fluoride poisoning: namely parathyroid and kidney diseases. Thus the proof of harm was specifically excluded from the study, which then found "no evidence of harm".

US PHS grants to countries where fluoridation is being promoted:

Country	1958	1960	1963
Canada	$8,640	$810,621	$1,237,365
Denmark	$27,297	$101,067	$439,704
Eire	$19,078	$62,250	$78,730
Netherlands	$56,945	$175,436	$289,320
Norway	$14,875	$129,286	$258,528
Sweden	$87,600	$507,570	$1,509,011
Switzerland	$5,259	$44,288	$892,606
UK	$232,035	$900,048	$2,751,326

1958: PHS pub 621(1958)
1960: PHS pub 777 part I (1960)
1963: PHS pub 1079 part I(1963)

1958. Drs D Jackson and SM Weidmann recorded that water with as little as 0.8ppm could result in a bone concentration of 5000ppm. (J Path Bact 76: 451, 1958))

Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary defines fluorosis as: Fluorosis – chronic poisoning with fluorine… enamel, mottled – a chronic endemic dental fluorosis found in communities using a drinking water that contains one part or more of fluorine per million.

Dr R Soggnaes found on Tristan da Cunha 30% of 6-9 year olds had dental fluorosis of their upper incisors. The water contained 0.2 ppm fluoride.

Dr VO Hurme observed mottling among Negro children in New Haven, Connecticut (0.25ppm) 1959. Research shows only 1/3 fluoride ingested is eliminated, far from the 75-90% claimed by the PHS based on the work of Largent and McClure: Muhler JC, Wagner MJ "Fluoride Ingestion and Urinary Calcium" Journal of Dental Research Vol 38 p 1078 (1959).

1959. Errors and Omissions in Experimental Trials is published by PRN Sutton. It highlights the total inadequacy of the methodology of the early fluoridation studies. In the same year it is reviewed by the UK National Health and Medical Research Council, Dental Research and Advisory Committee. After 3 years they were forced to produce their report, but its contents were never disclosed. The WHO, in 1960, do not mention Sutton's critique, but refer to the 3 studies of Newburgh, Grand Rapids, and Evanston as "well planned".

1960. HT Dean, "the father of fluoridation", is honoured by Irish Dental Society. Dean personally persuaded the Minister of Health to introduce compulsory fluoridation.

Drs R Feltman and G Kosel conclude a 14 year single blind study commissioned by Abbott Laboratories. They gave fluoride tablets to a large population of children and pregnant women. Use of placebos proved that 1% had adverse reactions. (Published J Dent Med 1961). Abbott subsequently put a warning on their fluoride tablets.

TheLancet 1960. "Fluorides occur naturally in water with a high calcium content, and the effects of fluoride may well be modified in soft water."

1961. Dr FJ Stare, very powerful due to his position at the Harvard School of Public Health, denigrated every opponent of fluoridation as "misinformed, stupid, or dishonest". (JAMA 2 Dec 1961). He pushed and repeated propaganda in "rebuttal" of every article published against fluoridation. Yet he admitted before the committee of the Ottawa legislature in 27 Feb 1964 "I don’t pretend to be an expert on fluoride metabolism."
In fact he had not published any original research at all for 25 years at this point.

Dr George Waldbott organises a conference in Rome to discuss fluoride research (adverse).(19-22 March 1961.) The Italian government had agreed to underwrite the conference costs. Meanwhile an uninvited scientist , a top official in the Canadian government, appeared and was anxious to serve on the organising committee. 3 weeks before the conference the Italian government withdrew support. The Eastman Dental Institute in Rome was funded from the US. Italian scientists received over $1M in research grants from the US PHS in 1960-62.

Letter by the chairman of the Fluoridation Committee of a dental society in Pennsylvania, 6 October 1961 to Mrs WS, Ketchikan, Alaska: "We now have spies in most of the established national organisations opposed to fluoridation and can anticipate the moves they are making, and we can really hit hard now. Of course this is not for publication."

1962. Australia: a 9 year old boy experienced gastric haemorrhages, requiring removal of a large portion of the stomach. After his return home he suffered another, requiring removal of part of the upper bowel. Several hours before the second incident he had taken a 1 milligram fluoride tablet.

1963. The Kettering Institute, funded by vested commercial interests and supported by US PHS grants, published a "selected bibliography" on fluoridation. (a copy of which is in the Otago Dental School Library). All references to adverse research were either omitted or presented in such a way as to infer they were groundless.

The New Zealand case of Lewis v Lower Hutt City begins, eventually going to the Privy Council, who make the opposite decision to that of the Canadian Supreme Court and rule that Local Councils can put anything they like in the water, including medication, so long as the water remains "wholesome".

The Australian case of Kelberg in 1964 and the Scottish case of McColl in 1983 ruled that fluoridation was unlawful on exactly the same wording, as the Candian Supreme Court had already done. The latter cases "distinguished" Lewis which, in the circumstances, was a polite way of saying the judgment was plainly wrong.

The US PHS issued a public health warning in Drug News Weekly Nov 14 1963. "In areas supplied with fluoridated water use of added supplements is not only unnecessary but definitely contraindicated."

1964. The case of Kelberg v City of Sale in Victoria Australia, adopts the Canadian interpretation, rejecting the New Zealand approach. Australian States simply pass legislation instead.

January 1964. A US Sociology student surveyed 400 local members of the medical society. She found 49% for fluoridation, 34% against, and 17% undecided. The assistant dean, prompted by the local fluoridation promotion committee chairman, wrote a letter berating the student as besmirching the good name of the university. A threatened libel suit by the student resulted in a retraction.

1965. The Irish case of Ryan v Attorney General is heard, challenging the constitutionality of fluoridation. Ministry of Health stenographers made transcripts so that the case could be prepared for the following day, including phone correspondence with the US PHS. Witnesses were supplied by the US PHS: most admitted to active involvement in promotion. The defence attacked the status of plaintiff witnesses after they had returned overseas. The Court needed explanation of even the simplest scientific and medical matters yet held fluoridation acceptable and Ireland became compulsorily fluoridated.

Dr. George Waldbott, an allergy specialist and independent fluoride researcher, publishes A Struggle with Titans, detailing:

• the control of research by withdrawing of grants by commercial interests and the US PHS;

• the placement of PHS personnel on technical advisory boards of major medical journals to "advise" editors which fluoride research to print (pro - usually funded by research grants as above) and which to reject (adverse, independent research);

• the character assassination of all those who reveal research results adverse to fluoridation;

• the silencing of doctors and dentists by threats of deregistration.

Dr Waldbott writes "For eleven years I have been engaged in medical research on the effect of fluoride on the human organism. While exploring the subject I have observed many practices usually not encountered in medical research."

January 1965 several Detroit dentists told a newspaper editor, who had published facts unfavourable to fluoridation, that $27,000 was available for advertising to win the vote for fluoridation in Detroit, and that some of it would be spent on his paper if he cooperated.

March 24, 1965, two prominent fluoridation promoters representing themselves as a newspaper editor and a member of "The Antigo Freedom from Fluoridation Committee" gained the confidence of Mrs JWP of W, Wisconsin, whose physician had recognised that she was poisoned by fluoridated water and had advised her to eliminate it for cooking and drinking. Having convinced her that they were genuinely interested in assisting her in proving her case valid, she divulged her physician’s name and granted them permission to contact him for details. Subsequently the physician Dr S was visited by five fluoridation promoters. After their visit he had no choice but to remain silent. The following day, the profluoridation committee "Antigo Citizens for Better Health" declared in the local Antigo Daily Journal while this so-called "legal and medical investigation" was "in process" (sic) that the case of Mrs P was "a flagrant abuse of truth, in fact a hoax."

This is typical of the way the PHS suppressed the truth, by threatening doctors who diagnosed fluoride poisoning.

May 13 1965, every member of the Detroit District Dental Society was notified of a $20 levy to support this campaign. Any dentists not complying within 4 months were threatened with loss of membership.

Patient deaths ensued from using fluoridated water in dialysis treatment. The AMA quietly arranged to advise hospitals to use unfluoridated water for this process, without revealing the death cases specifically.

1966. The US Food and Drug Administration bans the sale of fluoride tablets to pregnant women, due to evidence that it caused birth deformities.

1967-68. WHO Report #482 expresses concern over safe use of drugs. It finds the following categories of existing drugs should be high priorities for updated testing (fluoride meets all categories):

• Known or suspected mutagens

• Drugs used over a period of years, especially in children and young adults

• Prescribed for a large proportion of the population

• Used for general prophylaxis

WHO definition of a drug: "any substance used to alter or influence a physiological system for the benefit of the recipient."

WHO resolution 13 July 1969:

Recommends fluoridation where total intake from all sources is below "optimal", and that further research be conducted into dental caries. But it never specified the "optimal" dose. Similarly the US PHS have never specified an "optimal" dose as a daily intake.

1968. Smith and Hodge, 2 proponent experts state: "No large scale epidemiological studies are available comparing the health of fluoridated communities with that of communities where the water [contains] only traces of fluoride." Dental associations worldwide, and the US PHS, continue to promote fluoridation as "safe and effective."

Tasmanian Inquiry into fluoridation supports fluoridation

Tasmania bans local councils form holding referenda on fluoridation, making it compulsory. (In 1995 the lower House passes a Bill making it illegal to hold public meetings to discuss fluoridation, which was overturned by the upper House.)

Dr George Waldbott founds the International Society for Fluoride Research, dedicated to independent scientific research on fluoride, free of political influence or position.

1969. Jan 21 1969, Dr F Wertheimer, Michigan State Dental Director of health boasted that 7 communities had been secretly fluoridated during that year. He recommended public discussion be avoided until fluoridation had been "sold to citizens".

The World Health Organisation endorses fluoridation of water supplies on July 23, 1969, despite cautions from G.Penso of the Italian delegation, who warned about "possible genetic damage to future generations".
During the final hours of the session, when only 45 of the 1,000 delegates from 131 countries were still present, all bills that had not been accepted, including the one on fluorides, were collected and voted upon (no quorum), including the statement on fluoridation.
The Health Minister of Luxembourg later describes the earlier debate as heated, at times violent (as between proponents and opponents).

1970. WHO publishes Fluoride and Human Health recommending fluoridation but only if the total intake from all sources is taken into account. It also acknowledges: "fluorides accumulate in the aorta and possibly the kidney."

WHO also acknowledge that skeletal fluorosis can occur with as little as 2 mg fluoride per day - we get at least this much today if our water is fluoridated:
"At higher levels of ingestion - from 2 to 8 mg daily, skeletal fluorosis may arise ... Whereas dental fluorosis is easily recognised, the skeletal involvement is not clinically obvious until the advanced stage of crippling fluorosis ... early cases may be misdiagnosed as rheumatoid or osteoarthritis.?
- Fluorides and Human Health, 1970 pages 239-240

1970 Dr Arvid Carlsson, Head of Pharmacology, Gothenburg University, advisor to the Swedish government, in the Swedish Medical Association Journal: “There is no proof that fluoride is an essential nutrient. All the talk of water fluoridation as being merely a "restoration of the natural balance" is groundless."

1971. Punjab province, India: Professor SS Jolly demonstrates by X-ray 1320 cases of skeletal fluorosis. The water contains 1-5ppm fluoride. The majority of subjects also demonstrate rheumatic arthritic, or neurological symptoms.

FJ McClure and others found 8400ppm fluoride in the aortas of two men.

Sweden abandoned fluoridation in 1969. WHO pressures it to resume and Sweden asks for research proof of safety. WHO fails to provide any and backs down. Throughout the 1970’s European countries abandon fluoridation due to ineffectiveness, and health and civil liberties concerns.

• Finland, 1978, after 20 years of experimentation on one town;*

• West Germany, 1971;

• The Netherlands, 1976, after 23 years of experimentation;

• Norway, 1975;

• Luxembourg, 1979.The Minister of Health: "Fluoridation is a naive utopia, without practical effect, and an attack on personal liberty."

• Other European countries such as France, Italy (defluoridates some water supplies), Greece, Denmark, choose to remain unfluoridated

* This was following the discovery by researchers that people who lived for 10 years or more in the fluoridated city (Kuopio) had accumulated dangerously high levels of fluoride in their bones.(Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavia 51:413-420, (1980))

1972. Sydney, Australia. Dental promoters claim a significant improvement in tooth decay due to fluoridation. The actual figures, when broken down, show that there was 60% improvement in tooth decay from 1961 to 1967. Sydney was fluoridated in 1968. By 1972 the improvement was only another 2%, with a backslide of 1% until 1970. That is, the rate of improvement declined after fluoridation commenced. Dental promoters then selected children from the affluent northern Sydney, with less than average tooth decay, to claim a better improvement than reality. (A similar technique appears to have been used in Grand Rapids).

The Netherlands: A double blind study by 10 physicians, biologists, a pharmacologist, an allergy specialist, a dermatologist, and a notary (to ensure objectivity) demonstrated the same adverse (allergic) symptoms as already described in the literature. Water was supplied from drinking bottles with secret codes, changed every 2 weeks, known only to the notary. After 16 weeks the reports were delivered, sealed, to the notary. They were opened with two witnesses. The study found 1-5% of subjects showed adverse symptoms. The validity of the study was subsequently upheld in court. (31 August 1976, by Royal decree, fluoridation was banned in the Netherlands.)

1973. Australia NSW Health Department Policy, stated in the Medical Journal of Australia "It has been conventional practice to give a fluoride supplement during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy at a rate of 1.5mg of fluoride per day." In fact the US FDA had banned fluoride tablets for pregnant women in 1966.

During the 1973 Victorian election (Australia) Premier Hamer undertakes to honour the wishes of Ballarat people over fluoridation. 1978: the Council conducted an opinion poll on fluoridation: 2922 against, 186 for. The Victorian Government ordered the Ballarat Water Commission to proceed with fluoridation regardless. A petition to the Queen ensued, signed by 12,500 people, about 1/3 of the adult population. Unions put a black ban on the fluoridation plant installation. Due to an unexpected by-election, Hamer agreed to suspend work and establish an independent inquiry. (See 1979) However of the 3 commissioners appointed without consultation, one was past president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association, who supported fluoridation. (VD Pleuckaham. The other two were DM Myers, and ALG Rees.) It undertook to hold public meetings: they never did. All proceedings were in secret. The Ballarat people made many in depth submissions on the science involved. One went to Europe at his own expense to gather information. Not one reference could be found in the report. The petition was sent from the Queen back to the Australian Governor-General, who then referred it to the Victorian Governor. It then went back to the Victorian Premier’s department. The people of Ballarat were then informed that it did not meet standing Orders and hence could not be tabled before parliament. On 11 November 1980 it was presented unaltered to the House by the member for Ballarat North. It was not debated. On 11 Feb 1981 it was sent to the relevant Minister. The union bans continued in the face of this deliberate political manoeuvring by Hamer.

1975. 16 December 1975: Dean Burk and John Yiammouyannis published analysis of the US Cancer statistics for fluoridated and unfluoridated cities, showing a 5% increase in cancer deaths. The study covered 18 years and 18 million people. This led to court action in 1978 (see below). The National Cancer Institute hastily prepared a rebuttal, and sent this to Drs M Sheppard, R Doll, and/or LJ Kinlen, who submitted it to the New Scientist, published 5 February 1976, as their own work, claiming that they showed no increase in cancer in fluoridated communities. The NCI also claimed their own analysis showed no difference, and quoted the supposedly independent Kinlen and Doll study in support. They had used the same erroneous figure as the NCI. (14,487 instead of 14,272), revealing the conspiracy to deceive. This was admitted on oath before the court. In the US, PD Oldham and DJ Newell published the erroneous NCI data also, again claiming it as their own independent work, which was also claimed in support by the NCI. Oldham and Newell disclaimed responsibility for the NCI data in Applied Statistics 28(2) 184, 1979. They acknowledged that the data contained errors and claimed they were only to provide independent appraisal of the data provided, not search for new data. Yet they presented this to the courts (Aitkenhead v West View and McColl v Strathclyde) as an independent study showing the Burk-Yiammouyannis analysis to be incorrect.

Kinlen also published a paper on Birmingham cancer rates from 1961 to1968 (Fluoridated in 1964. Published in the British Dental Journal 1975. There was no adjustment for age; it was a static study only with no time trend data from before fluoridation to after. Kinlen admitted the results were estimates only. In the report he claimed there was no evidence of increased cancer in Birmingham. This was also presented in the Aitkenhead case in rebuttal of the Burk-Yiammouyannis claim of increased cancer rates. Under cross-examination (11 May 1978) Kinlen admitted that the fluoridated cancer rate was in fact 5% higher (1.03 v 0.98). The statement in the Journal was simply a lie. In 1976 the (UK) Royal College of Physicians repeated the claim, (see below) based on Kinlen's work, with no reference to the Burk-Yiammouyannis study.

The validity of the Burk-Yiammouyannis conclusion was admitted on 1 Dec 1976 by D S Fredrickson MD, Director, NIH, after consultation with the NCI over the Burk-Yiammouyannis analysis.

The NZ Medical Journal 27 Aug 1980 No 666 pp164-167 claims that all the international studies show that fluoridation does not increase cancer death rates, citing the statement of the Royal College of Physicians which in turn relied on Kinlen’s report in the British Dental Journal.

RN Hoover et al "Fluoridated Drinking water and the Occurrence of Cancer" presented to Congress 14 Nov 1975, republished in J of the National Cancer institute 57 (4) 1976. pp757-768. 16 Texas towns were compared. The authors claimed no difference in the cancer rates. The study was found inadequate for the following reasons:

• The fluoride categories (low, intermediate, high etc.) were not defined and the "control" subjects’ intake was more than that of some of the "experimental" subjects.

• The sample size of the control and 3 fluoride categories were too small.

• Data was "rounded" to the extent that a 5% difference would be obscured thereby.

• An adjustment as made for "years in education" which has never been shown to relate to cancer rates.

• The natural fluoride study had no time trend analysis, only a static analysis.

• The artificial fluoride study used 5 year time periods without determining when fluoridation actually began, nor that different parts of the subject counties were fluoridated at different times.

• Results were weighted by square root of population, not the actual population.

T Hirayama Cancer Res 35 3460, 1975. Elevated levels of dietary fluoride were found to be related to increased cancer death rates.

Sir Arthur Amies, Dean of the faculty of Dental Science, Melbourne University, after 20 years study of fluoride and being one of the world’s experts: "In my opinion the claim for complete medical safety of fluoride is entirely false."

1976. The Royal College of Physicians England, publishes Fluoride Teeth and Health endorsing the safety of fluoridation. Lord Douglas of Barloch describes this as "not an original contribution to research, but merely an evaluation of pre-existing information. Careful perusal reveals that it does not conform to the scientific standard [of skill and impartiality] required. Much of it reads like a piece of propaganda in favour of fluoridation. The Report does not attempt to specify what daily intake from all sources is important. Its [data on intake from food] is 30 years out of date."

There is a stormy WHO General Assembly vote over fluoridation: "the vote on this resolution had been preceded by dramatic discussions, at times extremely violent, between followers and the adversaries of fluoridation of drinking water, which proves to society that the last word has certainly not been said in this complex and complicated domain". (Health Minister of Luxembourg)

W Klein et al, Report of the Austrian Society of Atomic Energy Sabetsdorf research Centre 1 May

1976: Fluoride ions can inactivate DNA repair mechanisms.

27 April 1976. Feingold Association USA (care of hyperactive children) “Fluoride is one additive that cannot be tolerated by children in this group. It has a severe adverse reaction upon the nervous system." (Compare the work of Mullinex in 1995, showing central nervous system damage, as also shown by Manhattan Project files released in 1997.)

1977. USA Congressional Inquiry into the USA National Cancer Institute (part of the USPHS) and fluoridation. Washington DC 1977. The purpose was to determine whether the NCI had “done its job” before endorsing fluoridation. NCI admit that although it had endorsed fluoridation as "completely safe" for 27 years, it had never done a single study, and only was only planning animal studies at the time because of pressure, otherwise it "probably still would not do it." Testimony of Dr Newell pp243-245 of the report. The NCI started experiments on mice in 1979. It is a standard requirement that the test last for the natural life of an animal. (3 yrs) So until at least 1982 no one could have known whether fluoride caused cancer or not.

Chile discontinues fluoridation following research by Dr Albert Schatz, Nobel laureate and discoverer of the antibiotic streptomycin, that the poor were suffering adverse health effects and higher infant mortality due to fluoridation.

Melbourne, Australia, fluoridated February 1977. Over 100 statutory declarations were filed by persons suffering adverse health effects whenever they drank the water. The Victorian "Hamer" Commission of Inquiry (1979-1980) claimed no adverse health effects had been observed.
The ADA state: "No evidence is available to support the claim that the use of dietary fluoride supplements by adults will provide dental benefits in adults."

The Council on Dental Therapeutics of the ADA recommended that the maximum daily dose of fluoride for children 2-5 years old be reduced to 0.5 mg, and that this be decreased if the water contained more than 0.3 mg. Also that the daily dose for less than 2 years be 0.25 mg, reduced if the water contained more than 0.3 mg.

1978. Bacchus Marsh Australia. Promoters stated that the percentage of children with no decay had increased (1963-1978) by 15.8% due to fluoridation. In fact the total number had increased from 2 to 3 individuals (Bacchus Marsh population was approx 5000).

The landmark case of Aitkenhead v Borough of West View (16 November 1978) Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Civil Division, Pennsylvania, is heard. This was an application for injunction to prevent the city from fluoridating the water. It revolved around the Burk- Yiammouyannis study of National Cancer Institute data showing a 5% increase in cancer death rates following fluoridation. Dean Burk was a former head of the NCI and one of the world's leading experts in cancer. The NCI called in every expert they could find to challenge the Burk- Yiammouyannis findings. The trial lasted 5 1/2 months; the transcript covered 2500 pages. The judge held that every objection by the NCI was met and even turned against them by Burk and Yiammouyannis. Sadly, the injunction against the City of West View was stayed on appeal on purely jurisdictional grounds.

1979. Quebec Ministerial Inquiry into Fluoridation rejects fluoridation as being unsafe. Bill 88 had been put before parliament to implement fluoridation. The Inquiry concluded fluoride was mutagenic and cancer-causing. "We should be more concerned about possible intoxication than with deficiencies of fluorides."

John Yiammouyannis visits Australia. Proponents are invited to publicly debate with him. NHMRC put up their expert at a meeting at Canberra University, 27 June. The debate was publicly described as a complete walkover for Yiammouyannis.

The Official Physician’s Desk Reference (Australia): Fluoride supplements should not be administered to persons who are hypersensitive to fluoride. Side effects [include] Eczema, atopic dermatitis, urticaria, skin rashes, gastro-intestinal upsets, headache, nausea, and vomiting.

HC Hodge: "The most important and widely disregarded fact about dental fluorosis is this: no safe established daily intake exists." Hodge was an ardent proponent of fluoridation, operating out of Rochester University.

Weatherell et al 1979 quoted in British Dental Journal 19 May 1981. "In recent years, views about the mechanism of fluoride action have changed. The action of fluoride post-eruptively … is now considered to be of equal if not more importance than its pre-eruptive effect." i.e. this contradicts the long-standing claim that fluorides benefit is systemic - the justification for fluoridation. This topical effect is confirmed definitively in 1999 and 2000 by the Centre for Disease Control and the American Dental Association.

1979-1980. The "Hamer" Commission of Inquiry sits in Victoria Australia. To support its predetermined outcome it repeats lies and deceptions throughout its report, and omits much adverse evidence put before it. A detailed analysis of this, referencing original documents "quoted" by the Commission, is available in Fluoridation: Poison on Tap by G Walker, Magenta Press, Melbourne, 1982.

100 statutory declarations, some with doctor’s certificates were provided regarding hypersensitivity. All stated the symptoms cleared up upon using distilled water for drinking and cooking. The Commission never called in for medical testing. One woman was just out of Melbourne public hospital and had been given a wristband warning nurses not to give fluoridated water to the patient. Evidence was given that doctors had no hesitation in ordering unfluoridated water to be supplied from the dispensary for that purpose.

Re fluoride ions, the Commission finds, contrary to proponent's usual claims, that although in water the formation of HF and HF2- is quite insignificant, at pH 4,( and below) some F- would be converted to HF2- . Note the stomach acidity is often pH2-3, (pH1 without food) hence some HF2- would be expected. Formation of both had been shown by one of the leading experts Kaj Roholm, with the stomach’s hydrochloric acid. (HF (hydrofluoric acid) is the most corrosive acid known, and causes burns which get worse, rather than heal.)

Brisbane. A boy ingested between 4 and 6 fluoride tablets. The cause of death was listed as fluoride poisoning. Queensland Health Administration claimed that he had swallowed half a bottle – 92 tablets. No evidence was forthcoming to substantiate this. The mother said 6; his stomach had 4. (pumped at hospital) Reported 3 Nov 1979. The hospital doctors refused to believe the cause was fluoride poisoning because they were unaware that fluoride had a lethal dose (in spite of being used as rat poison for years) No inquest was ever held.

Dental fluorosis in Queensland (Australia) school children. March 1979, Dr G Smith took up a position of dentist at Prosperine Hospital, Queensland. He encountered a large number of children with dental fluorosis. He reported this to Brisbane authorities who told him to forget about it. He did not, but had the information published in Victoria. He was immediately asked to resign. Two investigators were sent. They were both employed by the school dental service, one taught the female dental therapists to apply fluoride .They advised they would do no more than classify the degrees of fluorosis. Smith advised that this was a superficial and cynical approach to the issue which he would not be associated with. He was classified as "unco-operative" in justifying the request for his resignation. The level of fluorosis was only marginally below the level considered a "public health problem". The equipment was obsolete, no one monitored the fluoride levels. Subsequent tests averaged 0.93 ppm: the recommended level was 0.6. (hot climate, high water consumption) School dental therapists were giving fluoride treatments and recommending fluoride tablets. They had never been taught about fluorosis. Two of the children were suffering from chizzola maculae: a possible symptom of fluoride poisoning resembling small bruises. The dentist were totally unqualified to address this, which is in the area a of clinical pharmacology and toxicology. Smith officially requested they be properly examined. No response to this request was received.

December 1979. Michigan Governor’s scientific task force: "Most studies which comprehensively review the topic [of fluoridation] are able to identify areas in need of further research." 1980. Australian Prescribing Manual 1980: recommended fluoride doses: expectant mothers in fluoridated areas: 0.75 mg per day fluoride; non-fluoridated areas: 1.5 mg/day. The 1966 US FDA ban is still in force.

Dr John Colquhoun of New Zealand visits the US NIDR, who tell him about their research into the US statistics on tooth decay. They advise that they are confident that this will prove once and for all the benefits of fluoride. The report, when published, failed to mention these results. Dr Colquhoun enquired why. He was told that a different statistical analysis was going to be used. When published this new analysis claimed a 33% improvement, but neither the calculations nor the original data was ever published. Obviously the anticipated improvement was not shown by the statistics.

1980. Brian Dementi, then toxicologist at the Virginia Department of Health, wrote a comprehensive report on "Fluoride and Drinking Water" that suggested possible health risks from fluoridation. This 36-page study has been purged from the department's library even though it is the only one the department has prepared on the subject. According to current employees, no copy exists anywhere in the department. Spokesmen say the report was thrown away because it was old but also say the department will be preparing another report on the subject soon.

1981. American Chemical Society Journal Vol 3 Issue 1 pp84-88. Research results unexpectedly showed that the fluoride ion can form an amide-fluoride hydrogen bond as the strongest heteronuclear hydrogen bond known. Many components within the living cell contain amide groups- hydrogen bonds between amides are the most important weak hydrogen bonds in biological systems. These can be disrupted by the formation of the much stronger N-H-F bond, explaining how the fluoride ion could interfere with healthy cellular systems.

1982. By this time fluoridation is compulsory in all Australian military camps.

1983. In the case of McColl v Strathclyde Regional Council Lord Jauncey held that the Council had no authority to fluoridate the water supply. The Water (Scotland) Act required the local authority "to provide a supply of wholesome water to every part of their limits of supply." Lord Jauncey also held that there was no proof of harmful effects, a finding which is untenable in light of the admissions before the Aitkenhead Court in Pennsylvania in 1978.

1986. Dr John Colquhoun proves that the Hastings experiment was a fraud. This study had been cited around the world, along with the US experiments. The Ministry of Health simply stops citing it as authority. Dr Colquhoun becomes persona non gratis and the Ministry of Health attempts to silence him and to disparage his work.

1989. Arends et al show that 2ppm fluoride is required to remineralise tooth enamel: the 1ppm level in water is useless as a topical application. See admission by the CDC and ADA in 1999/2000 that it is a topical effect that allegedly prevents tooth decay.

Dr John Colquhoun in New Zealand seeks to publish NZ school dental statistics which show that tooth decay was the same if not better in unfluoridated areas. Dr Colquhoun was the chief dental offcier in Auckland, and for 2 years had been the chairman of the NZ Government's Fluoridation Promotion Committee. The Director-General of Health refused permission. (Fluoridation was, and still is, a strongly promoted Government policy in NZ). Dr Colquhoun retired shortly after and published it anyway. He notes that although these were official figures he could not get his analysis published in either the medical or dental journal in NZ: he had to get it published by a body which was not politically aligned with fluoridation. He supported Dr George Waldbott's observation that such journals regularly refuse to publish adverse research on fluoride.

Dr Colquhoun stated in a sworn affadavit:

1990. Brunelle and Carlos publish the US National Institute of Dental Research study, the largest in US history, showing minimal difference between fluoridated and unfluoridated communities. (0.6 dmfs out of 128 in the mouth. Refer also Spencer et al, 1996, below)

1992. The US EPA is ordered to reinstate Dr William Marcus, with $50,000 damages, for firing hime over whistleblowing regarding NTP's coverup of cancer dangers from fluoridation.

1993. According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR, 1993), large cohorts of the public will be at considerable risk of adverse health effects from fluoridation. To quote from the Toxicological Profile for Fluorides, Hydrogen Fluoride and Fluorine (p 112):

1994. WHO publishes Fluorides and Oral Health again reiterating that the total fluoride intake from all sources must be taken into account.

1995. Tasmania attempts to ban public meetings held to discuss fluoridation. The Bill passes the Lower House but is rejected by the Upper House.

Dr Phyllis Mullinex demonstrates Central Nervous System damage in rats at the same blood-fluoride levels as humans drinking fluoridated water. Her funding grant is withdrawn, she is sent to a children’s hospital with no research funding, and her laboratory and all equipment and records are destroyed 3 days later.

Click here for Mullinex's story: it is typical of the history of fluoridation, and now GE research as we saw with Aberdeen University.

1996. Philip RN Sutton publishes The Greatest Fraud Fluoridation.

Spencer et al publish their Australian study showing insignificant difference in lifetime dental figures as between fluoridated and unfluoridated communities. (0.12-0.3 dmfs. Refer Brunelle and Carlos, 1990, above)

1997. Jennifer Luke, UK, demonstrates accumulation of up to 22,000ppm fluoride in the pineal gland.

"Manhattan Project" documents released under the US Official Secrets Act reveal that Central Nervous System damage was evident in refinery workers, working with fluoride, and was covered up by the US Government. The documents also revealed that the scientists overseeing the adverse health effect research aspect of the Newburgh - Kingston fluoridation experiment from 1945 were appointed by the Atomic Energy Commission to supress any adverse data, and collect information useful in defending litigation by workers for health damage.

27 September Natrick Report Released

1998. Betty De Liefde publishes a paper in the NZ Dental Journal revealing that it had been demonstrated that:

• There has been little valid statistical difference over the past 10 years between fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas with both showing identical falling incidences.

• A controlled field trial of topical fluoride showed no benefit.

• Most of the benefits of fluoride tablets could be explained by other dentally beneficial practices.

• The conclusions of many fluoride mouth-rinsing studies are now questioned because historical base-line data... can give the illusion of benefit.

• Attempts to attribute all the changes in caries prevalence to fluoride divert attention from other investigations.

• NZ epidemiological evidence of change in prevalence does not correlate well with the timetable of the introduction

1999. Drs Masters and Coplan demonstrate an increased uptake in Lead with silicofluorides now used in water fluoridation, as opposed to the original sodium fluoride. At first dismissed by the US EPA, this is later accepted and in part leads to the EPA's change in position in 2002.

In November 1999, Professor Limeback, Head of Preventive Dentistry, University of Toronto, President of Canadian Association of Dental Research, and the country's leading fluoride authority, publicly apologised to his faculty members and the media for mistakenly promoting water fluoridation for over 15 years.

His apology included the following:" Skeletal fluorosis is a debilitating condition that occurs when fluoride accumulates in bone making them extremely weak and brittle. The earliest symptoms are mottled and brittle teeth. In Canada, we are now spending more on dental fluorosis than we do treating cavities." He added: "Dentists have absolutely no training in toxicity. Your well- intentioned dentist is simply following 50 years of misinformation from public health and the dental association. Me, too. Unfortunately, we were wrong. Poisoning children was the furthest thing from my mind."
He was dismissed by the university, but was subsequently reinstated with $150,000 damages on a wrongful dismissal action.

The US Center for Disease Control admits that any benefit from fluoride is topical, not systemic: the whole basis of fluoridation is proven wrong.

2000. Journal of the American Dental Association: "Fluoride works primarily via topical mechanisms. Fluoride incorporated during tooth development is insufficient to play a significant role in caries protection."

The York Review, in spite of being established by the British Ministry of Health to prove the case for fluoridation, finds that all epidemiological studies are unreliable, and that there is no evidence of significant benefit, social equity, or safety. Proponent organisations, including the NZ Ministry of Health, lie about the outcome, claiming the report supported fluoridation. This led the review board chairman, Dr Trevor Sheldon, to make a public statement, presented to the House of Lords, regarding these lies and the true findings of the review. (See on this site)

2001. US promoters pressure the South African government to adopt fluoridation, in spite of endemic fluorosis throughout Africa. The usual farce Inquiry follows. The government decides to fluoridate. The fluoride is to be supplied by the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA), located in the Pelindaba nuclear complex west of Pretoria, though not as a waste product. This promises an annual income to the company of R13 Million.

"The 2001 Kentucky Childrens Oral Health Survey: findings for children ages 24 to 59 months and their caregivers."
Hardison JD, Cecil JC, White JA, Manz M, Mullins MR, Ferretti GA. Pediatr Dent. 2003 Jul- Aug;25(4):365-72.

In this article it is revealed that for children in Kentucky, "43% had untreated caries, 47% had caries experience (early childhood caries), and 31% had severe early childhood caries." CONCLUSIONS of the report:
"Dental caries is a major health and early childhood development problem in high-risk preschool children in Kentucky"
Kentucky is 100% fluoridated!

2002. There is a major push from the US to compulsorily fluoridate its own communities. A similar push to recover lost ground begins in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.

The US Environmental Protection Agency, a traditional promoter of fluoridation (though opposed by its Union of Scientists, who actually do the research) acknowledges that no human health safety tests have ever been done on silicofluorides used in water fluoridation, and calls for such research. It holds a scientific forum, and includes a 1 1/2 hour time slot for a fluoridation debate. Dr Paul Connett and Dr Hardy Limeback put the case against fluoridation. Not one federal agency, claiming fluoridation to be one of the 10 great medical achievements of the 20th century, is prepared to debate with these experts. The media, and Congressional aides present, begin asking why proponents cannot apparently support their claims.

Belgium bans all fluoride supplements citing that excessive use of fluoride increases the risk of osteoporosis, could damage the nervous system and, even Belgian dentists agree, is ineffective when ingested.

Belgian health minister at the time, Magda Aelvoet, said she was now pressing for a Europe-wide ban, hinting that the removal of supplements was just the first step towards removing the chemical from the food chain

The Irish Fluoridation Forum reports its "findings". It is unable to answer even one of the questions put to it by Dr Paul Connett, in spite of a special committee having been established for that express purpose and sitting for 2 years. It fails to mention any of the adverse research presented to it, rather like the Hamer Inquiry in Victoria in 1979, and simply repeats the endorsements of promoters instead of addressing the science.

In a 90 page report entitled "Endemic Goitre in the Union of South Africa and some Neighbouring Territories", prepared for the Department of Nutrition for the South African government, Dr. Douw Steyn and colleagues concluded that there were two separate causes for endemic goiter. In their summary, they state: "In the Union of South Africa endemic goitre is caused by: (1) a primary iodine deficiency in the drinking water and soil, and most probably in the food; and (2) excessive quantities of fluorine in subterranean drinking-water in spite of super sufficiency of iodine in the waters."

Research by University of Stellenbosch researchers (Loue AJ and Grobler SR (2002, J Dent Res) reported that in some regions already containing fluoride naturally, dental decay rates increased with increasing dental fluorosis.

The government's controversial plan is delayed, pending further research on several issues from cost to the effects on human health and the environment: "Several questions have been raised to which there are no answers."

The US pressure Israel, "the US of the Middle East", to adopt fluoridation. The Israeli parliament passes compulsory legislation: in 2003 the Israeli Supreme Court stands down the law, ruling it unconstitutional.

In January, 2002, the South Korean Medical Association official statement announced that "we are not in definitely positive position about water fluoridation since there are not enough scientific and medical evidences on its effects on human health" and expressed their wish to withdraw their name from the list of professional groups endorsing water fluoridation. This movement was followed by another announcement from the Korean Pharmaceutical Association in May, 2002, in which the latter said that the Pharmaceutical Association will not support the practice of water fluoridation until clear scientific evidence on its effects is available.

2003. Four South Korean city councils -Chongju, Pohang, Gwacheon, Uiwang- decide to stop the fluoridation of public water supplies.

The town of Basel, the only fluoridated town in Switzerland, ends fluoridation citing "lack of any perceptible benefit". In 1975 the Health Department had recommended discontinuing fluoridation because of "lack of any perceptible benefit".

Tony Blair in the UK introduces a Bill to make fluoridation compulsory. The House of Commons passes the Bill, in spite of the Government's own York Review finding no justification for fluoridation.

Dr Sam Epstein, Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, author of "The Politics of Cancer", and "The Politics of Cancer Revisited", publicly opposes fluoridation.

Local councils of Pierce-Tacoma County, USA, file for injunction against the health boards who are trying to force councils to fluoridate water supplies against their wishes. The case goes to the Washington State Supreme Court, on the constitutional issues only. The health boards claim that dental caries is a dangerous disease allowing them to invoke their "police powers". One of the judges asks "If dental caries is dangerous, tell me: how do I catch it?" The decision of the court is awaited.

An international petition is launched calling for an independent evaluation of fluoridation

The Mayor of London calls for an "independent" review of fluoridation

The Welsh nationalist party opposes fluoridation.

2006. April 5 Dr. Elise Bassin publishes study in Cancer Causes and Control, the official journal of the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention
— Boys who drink water with levels of fluoride considered safe by federal guidelines are five times more likely to have a rare bone cancer than boys who drink unfluoridated water, the study found that found strong link between fluoridated drinking water and osteocarcoma, a rare and often fatal bone cancer. The study confirms studies by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the New Jersey health department that also found increased rates of bone cancer in boys who drank fluoridated tap water.

Department Chair With Industry Ties Misrepresented Results to Federal Authorities
The Bassin study is also at the center of a joint federal and Harvard ethics investigation into whether Dr. Chester Douglass—the chairman of Oral Health Policy and epidemiology at Harvard Dental School and Bassin's doctoral thesis advisor—lied about the results of her work when reporting the results of his federally funded research to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

National Academy of Sciences issues the 2006 report, "Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of the EPA's Standards." Dr. Limeback, one of the 12 scientists who served on the panel, an associate professor of dentistry and head of the preventive dentistry program at the University of Toronto.

... That is a brief summary of the history of fluoridation -