Swiss Do Not Bank on Fluoride

As ministers plan to extend fluoridation of tap water in Britain as 'a cheap and effective way of helping to prevent dental decay', the 16th May 2003 UK edition of Private Eye reports that authorities in Switzerland have just ended 41 years of putting fluoride in water for the exact opposite reason.

The Swiss say fluoride's supposed role in preventing tooth decay "could not be proved by any study". In fact, despite fluoridation, dental caries among children in the city of Basle was increasing. Further, there were concerns about the potential adverse health effects of exposure to fluoride, particularly on babies and young children. Then of course there is the fact that less than 1 percent of fluoridated water is used for cleaning teeth. Most goes down toilets or drains. So apart from one small area in Spain, the only European countries that remain wedded to fluoridated water are Britain and Ireland. For an interesting report on the Swiss experience, go to
http://www.npwa.freeserve.co.uk/basel.html

Less than 1% of the fluoride in drinking water is actually used for 'prevention of caries', more than 99% of the fluoridated water is used for washing, cleaning, industrial production etc. and thus only pollutes the environment, a very undesirable imbalance.