Water fluoridation in the United States
On January 25, 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first community in the United States to fluoridate its drinking water for the intended purpose of helping to prevent tooth decay.
Initial hypotheses for the staining included poor nutrition, overconsumption of pork or milk, radium exposure, childhood diseases, or a [calcium] deficiency in the local drinking water.
Dental and aluminum researchers then moved toward determining a relatively safe level of fluoride to be added to water supplies.
District Court Judge Edward Chen ruled that the current recommended fluoridation level of 0.7 ppm "poses an unreasonable risk of reduced IQ in children.
[17] A study of varying amounts of fluoride in water was led by Dr. H. Trendley Dean, a dental officer of the U.S. Public Health Service.
[21] Dr. Dean's research on the fluoride-dental caries relationship, published in 1942, included 7,000 children from 21 cities in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
The study concluded that the optimal amount of fluoride which minimized the risk of severe fluorosis but had positive benefits for tooth decay was 1 mg per day, per adult.
In 1937, dentists Henry Klein and Carroll E. Palmer had considered the possibility of fluoridation to prevent cavities after their evaluation of data gathered by a Public Health Service team at dental examinations of Native American children.
[22] In a series of papers published afterwards (1937–1941), yet disregarded by his colleagues within the U.S.P.H.S., Klein summarized his findings on tooth development in children and related problems in epidemiological investigations on caries prevalence.
Miller complained that there had been no studies carried out to assess the potential adverse health risk to senior citizens, pregnant women, or people with chronic diseases from exposure to the fluoridation.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has identified community water fluoridation as one of ten great public health achievements of the 20th century.
[34] In 1998, 70% of people polled in a survey conducted by the American Dental Association (ADA) believed community water should be fluoridated, with 18% disagreeing and the rest undecided.
[35] In November 2006, the ADA began recommending to parents that infants from 0 through 12 months of age should have their formula prepared with water that is fluoride-free or contains low levels of fluoride to reduce the risk of fluorosis.
$1.2 million was to be provided by the privately funded Washington Dental Service Foundation to begin building the equipment needed to add fluoride to the Judy Reservoir, which supplies the majority of Skagit Valley's water customers.
[40] The cost of adding fluoridation to the water of 44 Florida communities has been researched by the State Health Office in Tallahassee.
Unintended consequences, such as equipment malfunction, can substantially raise the financial burden, as well as the health risks, to the consumer.
[49] Individuals have sued municipalities for a number of illnesses that they believe were caused by fluoridation of the city's water supply.
In most of these cases, the courts have held in favor of cities, finding no or only a tenuous connection between health problems and widespread water fluoridation.
[53] The court noted, "we think the weight of well-reasoned modern precedent sustains the right of municipalities to adopt such reasonable and undiscriminating measures to improve their water supplies as are necessary to protect and improve the public health, even though no epidemic is imminent and no contagious disease or virus is directly involved .... To us it seems ridiculous and of no consequence in considering the public health phase of the case that the substance to be added to the water may be classed as a mineral rather than a drug, antiseptic or germ killer; just as it is of little, if any, consequence whether fluoridation accomplishes its beneficial result to the public health by killing germs in the water, or by hardening the teeth or building up immunity in them to the bacteria that causes caries or tooth decay.
"[54] The Supreme Court of Ohio, in 1955's Kraus v. City of Cleveland, said, "Plaintiff's argument that fluoridation constitutes mass medication, the unlawful practice of medicine and adulteration may be answered as a whole.
"[55] In 1973, as cases continued to be brought in state courts, a consensus developed that fluoridation, at least from a legal standpoint, was acceptable.
"[50] The Science Advisory Board, Subcommittee on Toxic Sprays first researched this in 1938,[56] after its creation by executive order issued by President Franklin D.
[66] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a maximum contaminant level (MCL) standard of 4.0 mg/L for fluoride, applicable to public water systems.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if your child under the age of 6 months is exclusively consuming infant formula reconstituted with fluoridated water, there may be an increased chance of dental fluorosis.
[75] In March 2013, after a 6–1 vote, the county resumed the addition of fluoride, which the Times characterized as being "long considered the most effective method to prevent tooth decay".
