The Times, 22 July. 3 letters
July 22, 2003
Letters
Over to you...
Fluoride has brush with hostilities
I AM strongly against mass medication with fluoride (The Issue Explained, July 15).
I must avoid gluten (the protein in wheat), but there are many alternatives for me to eat. It would be impossible to avoid fluoridated water, if it is introduced to all public water supplies. The suggestions - to use a water filter or buy bottled water - would cause extra expense. Canned foods would also contain it.
If children cannot be taught to brush their teeth reguarly, what hope is there in teaching them the 3Rs?
Peter A Rushforth, Bradford
IF THE powers that be are really concerned about children's teeth, more could be done to promote awareness about the harm sugar does. Parents alone are responsible for training childen to clean their teeth properly and it has nothing to do with the Government.
We have to ingest enough chemicals via farming methods without the addition of this unresearched chemical "fluoride".
Mrs A Prince, Hampshire
A REPORT by the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, reviewing evidence on fluoridation, indicates that the benefits of fluoridation have been grossly exaggerated, that much of its research is shoddy, and that after fluoridation we can expect at least 12 people in every 100 to suffer from severe, disfiguring dental fluorosis.
The Nuremberg trials established the right of each individual to accept or refuse medication. Administering medication via the water supply contravenes this.
Elizabeth A McDonagh, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
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