IFIN BULLETIN # 844: Canadians duped
September 13, 2003.
Dear All,
On Thursday September 11, Canadians from coast to coast were duped by a story which first appeared in the National Post, but was subsequently picked up by CTV news, UPI, and the Drudge report (see stories below). The report claimed that tooth decay was on the rise in Canada because of the number of Canadians drinking bottled water, thus depriving themselves of the wonder drug "fluoride" - or rather hexafluorosilicic acid - in their drinking water. The same trick was planted in the Australian media earlier in the year. That story originated from the Australian Dental Association. There is no indication in the National Post piece where the story came from, except nearly all the sources quoted are Pediatric dentists (Dr. Franklin Pulver is a pediatric dentist in Toronto; Dr. Michael Sigal, is Head of Pediatric dentistry at University of Toronto; Charles Lekic, is Head of Pediatric dentistry at the University of Manitoba and Stephane Schwartz, is a pediatric dental specialist at Montreal General Hospital). It might be that Tom Blackwell is a particularly enterprising journalist and initiated this story himelf, or it might have been planted by someone else.
First, it should be noted that there is no peer-reviewed or published study to back this story up. This story is simply based upon conjecture devoid of any science or scholarship. But could it be true? No, it is most unlikely for these reasons:
- Even if you swallow the fluoridation mythology, those who drink bottled water in fluoridated communities still cook with tap water, and get fluoride from many other sources including dental products and food and beverages prepared with fluoridated water.
- The levels of dental fluorosis (a well-established biomarker for fluoride exposure prior to the eruption of the permanent teeth) in Canada indicate that children are being over-exposed to fluoride not under-exposed.
- A scientific study, as opposed to a PR story, would have atttempted to show a decrease in dental fluorosis in children as a way of measuring a claimed reduction in fluoride consumption.
- ental decay strikes hardest in children from parents of low income, the least likely to be using expensive bottled water.
Particularly, interesting about the story is the statement by Toronto dentist Dr Franklin Pulver, who says that " I have so much decay, I can't keep up with it." Which if true, is another piece of evidence that fluoridation is not working, since Toronto has been fluoridated since the 60's. Rather than admit this, pediatric dentists are looking for a scape goat. Or is there something else going on here?
Is it a coincidence that Coca Cola recently gave the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry a large grant? At the time of this grant, consumer activists were very concerned that Coca Cola was trying to deflect attention from its marketing of its soft drinks in schools. However, Coca Cola also owns Dannon which markets a bottled water product labeled "Dannon-Fluoride to Go". Are we seeing pediatric dentists, or whoever gave this story to Tom Blackwell, serving Coca Cola's plan to get this product into school vending machines?
The sad part about all this is the Candian media are so ill-informed on this issue that they swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Even sadder, is they swallowed this story just 10 days after they ignored a media release announcing that over 300 scientists and public health activists from 38 countries had signed a petition calling for integrity from those promoting or practicing fluoridation: the kind of integrity which was clearly absent from those behind this story.
Paul Connett.
Bottled water blamed for rush of cavities
Missing out on fluoride
Tom Blackwell
National Post
Thursday, September 11, 2003.
Canadians' growing penchant for bottled water may help explain what some dentists are calling a steep jump in the rate of cavities among children.
As families increasingly opt for spring water, most of which contains only trace amounts of naturally occurring fluoride, they are avoiding tap water that in many cities is supplemented with the decay-fighting chemical.
"It's not just drinking the bottled water. It's the parents thinking the tap water is no good, whereas, in fact, there is fluoride in it," said Franklin Pulver, a pediatric dentist in Toronto.
"If they don't get it through prepared food and what-not, the kids are missing out on the fluoride."
Other experts suggest the reasons have more to do with lifestyle and diet: Parents too busy to instill good dental hygiene, immigrants from developing countries not versed in cavity prevention and a sense that drinking fluoridated water is all that is necessary.
"I have so much decay, I can't keep up with it," Dr. Pulver said.
Problems are particularly pronounced among certain pockets of low-income children, with Montreal and Winnipeg, for instance, facing near-crisis levels of young people who need so much work they must be put under general anesthetic.
Manitoba is seeing an increase in decay among aboriginal and other disadvantaged groups, with about a quarter of the province's children suffering tooth problems as bad as in the developing world, said Charles Lekic, head of pediatric dentistry at the University of Manitoba.
More than 1,000 young children, with as many as 20 cavities each, are languishing on a waiting list of six to 12 months in the province for an operating room to have their teeth fixed.
"Hundreds of children are crying throughout the day because of tooth decay," Dr. Lekic said. "You can imagine how these children feel -- experiencing pain from the beginning of their lives."
He blames the phenomenon on lots of cheap pop and candy and a lack of public education about how to prevent cavities. Practices such as giving babies a bottle to suck on in bed have led to widespread early-childhood carries: cavities in the baby teeth of pre-schoolers.
In Montreal, 600 children younger than four are waiting for dental work so extensive, it must be done under general anesthetic, said Stephane Schwartz, a pediatric dental specialist at Montreal General Hospital. She and her colleagues are planning a major lobby effort to convince the city to add fluoride to the water.
Dentists across the country report seeing more cavities over the last five years in children from all social strata, said Michael Sigal, head of one of Canada's two graduate programs in pediatric dentistry, located at the University of Toronto.
"If you were to take a poll of pediatric dentists 10 or 15 years ago, they'd all be lamenting that they weren't seeing that many children, their practices weren't that busy, they were branching out into other aspects of dentistry to fill the void," he said.
"Now, if you talk to them, they are so busy just trying to keep up with fixing the teeth due to cavities, that they do not have to branch out into any other areas.... That's right across North America. It's not a regional thing."
No one collects national statistics tracking the rate of tooth decay in the Canadian population. However, studies showing that dentists are spending more time treating children and anecdotal reports of long waits for service would appear to confirm the trend, Dr. Sigal said.
Elizabeth Griswold, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Bottled Water Association, said she would be surprised if an increase in the consumption of bottled water was contributing to the jump in childhood cavities.
She said there is controversy over the effectiveness of fluoride, but some bottlers nonetheless add the substance to their product.
Canada produced 920 million litres of bottled water in 2001, and Canadians drank an average of 29 litres per person, according to figures from the International Council of Bottled Water.
The numbers have increased 10% to 15% each year since about 1992, Ms. Griswold said.
� Copyright 2003 National Post