I have a bone to pick with people with the people who voted no in the November 2014 referendum to remove the fluoride in Prince George's water supply. Although some may criticize me for being late to the party, rest assured, I was annoyed when the results first came out as well.
Prince George had been fluoridating its water supply since 1955 until we, the people, decided that we knew more than the dentists, doctors and professors who are experts in the field of oral health.
Presumably, the decision to start fluoridating the water in Prince George was made under the advisement of these same professionals and the initial success of the fluoridation program was used in the early 1960s to roll out a fluoridation program in neighbouring communities.
Take, for instance, this article from the Jan. 22, 1963 edition of our beloved Prince George Citizen, "Fluoridation for Quesnel." In a comparison report of the dental health of Grade 1 children in Prince George, Vanderhoof and Quesnel, the dental division of the Northern Interior Health Unit (using surveys conducted by the Prince George Dental Society) found that "Grade 1 children in Prince George who were born there have up to 35 per cent less decay than children of the same age group in Quesnel and up to 21 per cent less decay than children in Vanderhoof of the same age. In addition, the percentage of decay-free children in the Prince George group is six times greater than the Quesnel group and twice the percentage of the Vanderhoof group."
The article states that the fluoride program was found to be of "definite value" for the children of Prince George. Yep, that is you and me.
Those of us who were born in Prince George since 1955 have been given a definite benefit from the fluoride program and in order to thank those who were smarter than we are, we decided to rip this benefit away from our own children and grandchildren for generations to come.
I am angry. Very angry.
Because I have just come from the dentist with my six-year-old son (by coincidence, he is the same age as the children in the study) who has never had a cavity before in his life and now, he has four.
Four!
I am a decent parent and I make sure we brush twice every day and we floss - most days. Let's be honest, flossing two kids' teeth as they are kicking and screaming is an easy job to neglect.
There are people who are better than me with their children's dental hygiene and I can absolutely guarantee that there are people who are worse. And our family has the luxury of having a good dental insurance plan so we go to the dentist regularly. There are many families who do not have dental plans. The lack of fluoride in our water supply is hurting our children's teeth, particularly disadvantaged children.
On Nov. 15, 2014, 10,171 people in our fair city voted to hurt our city's children. Why?
On the Health Canada website, the health effects of fluoride and it found that there were only two known side effects of too much fluoride: dental fluorosis (white spots on adult teeth) and skeletal fluorosis (hardening of the bones and joints). Both of these conditions, according to Health Canada, can be caused by ingesting too much fluoride over a long period of time. Dental fluorosis is a cosmetic condition and skeletal fluorosis is reportedly extremely rare in Canada due to high restrictions on fluoride in water and in fluoride-containing products.
The health effects of fluoride had been studied since the 1940s and it has been found to be safe overall and beneficial for all Canadians regardless of age, race or economic background. In short, fluoride has been studied in Canada for roughly 60 more years than Viagra.
But what does Health Canada know? They are experts in the field of science-y stuff and clearly they don't know anything. What do dentists or hygienists or doctors or professors know? It's not like they're experts in their field or anything.
No, Hippie Mom who only feeds their children organic food grown from their own garden knows more about "poisons" in our water. Likely, Hippie Mom also doesn't vaccinate and when a measles or smallpox epidemic hits our city, we will have very sick kids with an added bonus of rotting teeth.
I urge our mayor and city councilors to avoid putting large-scale health questions in the future to the undiscerning public. Referendums on spending? Sure. That is a good use of our time. Referendums on public health policy? Let's leave that to the experts - they know more than we do.
Democracy is not always right - Trump proves that. The reason we elect representatives is that they are supposed to do what is right for the health and betterment of the community, not just to do what we want based on pseudo-science and mass hysteria.
