The dental and public health organizations in Maine criticized the anti-fluoride campaigns made by a Bangor child specialist. They also advised the residents not to believe the false information and alter their water treatment policies.
Dora Anne Mills, the Director for Maine Center for Disease Control had confirmed in a news conference that public water fluoridation is totally safe and is very effective in fighting tooth decay.This announcement has come in the wake of an opinion published by a Bangor pediatrician, Leo Leonidas that linked fluoride with autism and lower IQ in children. Leonidas also commended people of Mount Desert Water District who decided to remove fluoride from the local drinking water. According to this pediatrician, fluoride can weaken bones in adults.
Jonathan Shenkin, dentist representing the Maine Dental Association dismissed Leonidas’s claim as baseless and erroneous. He also added that public water fluoridation has brought down tooth decay to a significant level. He said that fluoride is added in safe doses to drinking water, and it is found naturally in many water supplies.
Private wells are the main source of water supply for majority of the Maine residents. According to Maine dental association, 84% of state public water systems are fluoridated and it costs 50 cents to $3 per person per year to fluoridate water. This amount over a life time is less than the cost of a filling.
Source-Medindia
JYT
