Approximately 34 years ago, I was asked by the Brigham City Council to serve on a committee to study the benefits and risks of fluoridated water. The committee included a physician, a dentist, a Ph.D. chemist, an attorney, a member of the City Council and two additional citizens. We thoroughly studied the issues for and against fluoridation for many months. The committee's unanimous conclusion was that the benefits of fluoridated water far outweighed the risks as long as the water contained the fluorides in the proper concentrations.
The report included the fact that there was some fluoride in each of the various water supplies within the city. Not only did we find that our water supply had natural fluoride but that many of the foods that we eat also contain small amounts of fluoride. The adding of additional fluoride to the drinking water was not adding something new, or foreign, since we already had been eating and drinking fluoride all along.
When I presented the fluoridation report to the Brigham City Council on May 29, 1965, four members voted in favor of fluoridating the Brigham City drinking water and one abstained. Therefore the proposal to fluoridate the Brigham City water was placed on the ballot for citizens to vote upon. The vote was in favor of fluoridation.
This positive vote has given the children of Brigham City the benefits of fewer cavities.
We have had some Brigham City dentists who had previously worked in non-fluoridated communities. They regularly commented upon the lack of dental decay in the Brigham City children.
I, also, could usually tell when a new patient came to my office whether their previous drinking water contained fluoride.
I have seen no mottling or any other harmful effects from fluoride, although many were predicted by the small vocal groups who originally opposed the fluoridation of our water.
A. Edward Warren, D.D.S., P.C.
Brigham City