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Dental students have been used in Oregon, Florida and California to promote fluoridation. Some speak at community events taking time away from residents opposed and some walk the streets delivering flyers.
What are you promised in return?
excerpts from: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/11749/104413
Without science on their side, fluoridationists (usually the dental profession) use politics and slick costly public relations campaigns to win their battles, exploiting misinformed dental students as foot soldiers, maybe in return for better grades.
Case in point - Palo Alto, California.
The California Dental Association, joined by local dentists, spent $75,000 in their election day victory. Palo Alto is a community of approximately 61,200. Children in need could have many cavities filled for that amount of time and money spent promoting fluoridation.
Palo Alto Fluoridationists admit they were also helped with support by local legislators and newspapers, along with financial support and mailings from the California Dental Association. Thirty-four dental students were required to walk precincts.
About 45 dental students were also deployed in Palm Beach County, Florida, August 26, 2003, at a fluoridation meeting who sat in the back, and were handed cards with what they were to say, which in effect stated why they were in favor of fluoridation, according to someone who attended. Because there were so many of them, and they were allowed to speak first, residents opposed to fluoridation were deprived of a chance to speak.
Dental students were also used in Oregon.
While dentists play games with fluoridation, children are suffering. America?s oral health crises is due mostly to dentists? unwillingness to treat poor children for what Medicaid offers forcing the poor into emergency rooms for neglected and extensive care at taxpayers expense.
If dentistry doesn't change its focus, the dental profession is doomed to be know as "the leadership profession for bungalow solo private practices in the nation's suburbs," according to Edward O'Neil, M.P.A., Ph.D., Director,Center for the Health Professions.
Severe tooth decay is responsible for 2/3 of hospital visits by children under six in New York State, where almost 70% of the population drinks fluoridated water. New York City spends anywhere between $6 and $14 million annually on water fluoridation. Yet more New York City children required cavity-related hospitalizations, proportionately, than two of New York State?s largest non-fluoridated counties, Suffolk and Nassau, whether payment was made by Medicaid or privately.
National Medicaid costs for hospital treatment of early childhood cavities are between $100 to $200 million annually.
Even the oral health of the elderly is in a state of decay, according to Oral Health America, largely because of older Americans inability to pay for dental care.
Dentists claim that preventing one cavity over a lifetime through water fluoridation may save $42, but not filling another cavity may cost $12,199 to the taxpayers in emergency room care.
Over one-third of the U.S. population lack dental insurance and 7 million of them need dental care. In some high-risk populations, such as Native Americans, two-thirds have unmet dental needs. DK Benn in the Journal of Dental Education, October 2003, suggests that, if dentists don?t start accepting more Medicaid patients, then allied dental providers should be allowed to work independently and break the dentists monopoly.
It?s understandable, that dentists may owe upwards of $100,000 and more in student loans along with costly family and office expenses, and most can?t afford to be charitable. But, incredibly, dentists are willing to spend vast amounts of time and private and public money on fluoridation. Fluoridation gives the illusion dentistry cares about the poor without, actually, solving America?s oral health crisis.
<snip>
Two-thirds of elementary school chldren and Thirty-three percent of preschoolers, living in San Francisco, fluoridated since 1954, had cavities, many untreated, in a 1996/97 survey revealing cavity prevalence in San Francisco is similar to the rest of California, mostly non-fluoridated at the time of the survey.
Yet San Francisco reportedly will spend $2,500,000 on a new or updated fluoridation facility. At the same time San Francisco sells non-fluoridated bottled water and brags that their Mayor and Water Department employees drink the bottled. holdSessionater.org/detail.cfm/MSC_ID/72/MTO_ID/106/MC_ID/5/C_ID/1400/holdSession/1
What are you promised in return?
excerpts from: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/11749/104413
Without science on their side, fluoridationists (usually the dental profession) use politics and slick costly public relations campaigns to win their battles, exploiting misinformed dental students as foot soldiers, maybe in return for better grades.
Case in point - Palo Alto, California.
The California Dental Association, joined by local dentists, spent $75,000 in their election day victory. Palo Alto is a community of approximately 61,200. Children in need could have many cavities filled for that amount of time and money spent promoting fluoridation.
Palo Alto Fluoridationists admit they were also helped with support by local legislators and newspapers, along with financial support and mailings from the California Dental Association. Thirty-four dental students were required to walk precincts.
About 45 dental students were also deployed in Palm Beach County, Florida, August 26, 2003, at a fluoridation meeting who sat in the back, and were handed cards with what they were to say, which in effect stated why they were in favor of fluoridation, according to someone who attended. Because there were so many of them, and they were allowed to speak first, residents opposed to fluoridation were deprived of a chance to speak.
Dental students were also used in Oregon.
While dentists play games with fluoridation, children are suffering. America?s oral health crises is due mostly to dentists? unwillingness to treat poor children for what Medicaid offers forcing the poor into emergency rooms for neglected and extensive care at taxpayers expense.
If dentistry doesn't change its focus, the dental profession is doomed to be know as "the leadership profession for bungalow solo private practices in the nation's suburbs," according to Edward O'Neil, M.P.A., Ph.D., Director,Center for the Health Professions.
Severe tooth decay is responsible for 2/3 of hospital visits by children under six in New York State, where almost 70% of the population drinks fluoridated water. New York City spends anywhere between $6 and $14 million annually on water fluoridation. Yet more New York City children required cavity-related hospitalizations, proportionately, than two of New York State?s largest non-fluoridated counties, Suffolk and Nassau, whether payment was made by Medicaid or privately.
National Medicaid costs for hospital treatment of early childhood cavities are between $100 to $200 million annually.
Even the oral health of the elderly is in a state of decay, according to Oral Health America, largely because of older Americans inability to pay for dental care.
Dentists claim that preventing one cavity over a lifetime through water fluoridation may save $42, but not filling another cavity may cost $12,199 to the taxpayers in emergency room care.
Over one-third of the U.S. population lack dental insurance and 7 million of them need dental care. In some high-risk populations, such as Native Americans, two-thirds have unmet dental needs. DK Benn in the Journal of Dental Education, October 2003, suggests that, if dentists don?t start accepting more Medicaid patients, then allied dental providers should be allowed to work independently and break the dentists monopoly.
It?s understandable, that dentists may owe upwards of $100,000 and more in student loans along with costly family and office expenses, and most can?t afford to be charitable. But, incredibly, dentists are willing to spend vast amounts of time and private and public money on fluoridation. Fluoridation gives the illusion dentistry cares about the poor without, actually, solving America?s oral health crisis.
<snip>
Two-thirds of elementary school chldren and Thirty-three percent of preschoolers, living in San Francisco, fluoridated since 1954, had cavities, many untreated, in a 1996/97 survey revealing cavity prevalence in San Francisco is similar to the rest of California, mostly non-fluoridated at the time of the survey.
Yet San Francisco reportedly will spend $2,500,000 on a new or updated fluoridation facility. At the same time San Francisco sells non-fluoridated bottled water and brags that their Mayor and Water Department employees drink the bottled. holdSessionater.org/detail.cfm/MSC_ID/72/MTO_ID/106/MC_ID/5/C_ID/1400/holdSession/1
