Water and Teeth

Mr. McNeil has traced the history of fluoridation from 1901, when a Colorado dentist first observed that mottled teeth were a sectional affliction, to the discovery of the correlation between fluorine and tooth decay which has led to today’s raging controversy.

It is no surprise that Mr. McNeil, a pro-fluoridator himself, stresses the eccentricities of certain anti-fluoridators. This is a recognized ploy in this particular game. But it is surprising that he adduces evidence—whether inadvertently or not—of eccentric conduct on the part of fluoridation evangelists such as Dr. John Frisch who did so much to “sell” water fluoridation to the Public Health Service, the AMA and ADA. Frisch, Mr. McNeil tells us, was simply “delighted” when his daughter’s teeth showed signs of mottling after several years of drinking a home brew of fluoridated (1.5 ppm) water, because this was proof positive that “fluorine artificially added to water brought about the same results [disfigured teeth?] as fluorine found naturally in water supplies.’’ An interesting book on the whole. But probably too unimpassioned to please the zealot on either side.

PL

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Priscilla L. Buckley

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Mr. McNeil has traced the history of fluoridation from 1901, when a Colorado dentist first observed that mottled teeth were a sectional affliction, to the discovery of the correlation between fluorine and tooth decay which has led to today’s raging controversy.

It is no surprise that Mr. McNeil, a pro-fluoridator himself, stresses the eccentricities of certain anti-fluoridators. This is a recognized ploy in this particular game. But it is surprising that he adduces evidence—whether inadvertently or not—of eccentric conduct on the part of fluoridation evangelists such as Dr. John Frisch who did so much to “sell” water fluoridation to the Public Health Service, the AMA and ADA. Frisch, Mr. McNeil tells us, was simply “delighted” when his daughter’s teeth showed signs of mottling after several years of drinking a home brew of fluoridated (1.5 ppm) water, because this was proof positive that “fluorine artificially added to water brought about the same results [disfigured teeth?] as fluorine found naturally in water supplies.’’ An interesting book on the whole. But probably too unimpassioned to please the zealot on either side.