2011/08/17 Council Agenda Packet

I am David W.John, MD of 8817 S.E.61st St.,Mercer Island. Like most people, I used to believe fluoridation prevents tooth decay. But, after many hours studying research, I've been deeply shocked to find there is essentially no decrease in cavity problems in fluoridated areas. In the 1960s and 70s John Colquhoun, New Zealand's top dental officer succeeded in promoting fluoridation widely. In 1980 he learned studies in Australia,Asia, North America and Europe showed very little difference. He checked tooth decay records for all 5 and 12 year olds in New Zealand, and found no decrease in fluoridated communities. John also learned of extensive dental fluorosis in those areas, and to his great credit,spent the rest of his life trying to get the very communities he had talked into fluoridating to stop doing it. (The Case Against Fluoride, Paul Connett, PhD,Chelsea Green Publishing Company,2010,pages 55 and 56.). I really believe that if there were equally courageous U.S. researchers,dental authorities and public officials who would admit they were wrong,fluoridation would be stopped now in the whole United States. In 1981 Dr.Ziegelbecker reviewed all published studies and found no cavity reduction from fluoridation! (Ziegelbecker, D., in Fluoride, Vol. 14, 1981,pages 123-128) The largest survey of tooth decay in the U.S.was done in 1986 on 40,000 children ages 5 through 17 from 84 communities. They were divided into 3 groups: Those who never lived in fluoridated areas,those who always lived in such areas and those who lived part of the time in each kind of area. The results were not released. Finally, Dr.John Yiamouyiannis used the Freedom of Information Act to pry loose the figures. He quickly realized why they hadn't been released, because they showed no significant difference between the 3 groups in decay rate of permanent teeth! (Fluoride the Aging Factor,John Yiamouyiannis, PhD, Health Action Press, 1993,pages 125-129) Instead of admitting this, Brunel!and Carlos from the data gathering group reanalyzed in some complex statistical way that divided the teeth into 100 different surfaces and said fluoride saved six tenths of one surface. Then they claimed that as saving 18%! (J.A. BruneiI and J.P.Carlos, Recent Trends in Dental Caries in U.S.Children and the Effect of Water Fluoridation) And last: 1992 former EPA scientist, Dr. Robert Carton said: "Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century" Some of Dr.John's accomplishments: Graduation with honors in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (including a research paper published before graduation in which fluoride was used to kill bacteria) Three years active duty as an officer in the U.S. Navy MD degree with honors from University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Nine years on the faculty of University of Rochester Medical School with many publications of original research in biological chemistry Given membership in Sigma Xi (an honor society)for outstanding research Completed psychiatric residency program at the University of Washington Private practice of psychiatry in Seattle 29 year career as the Psychiatrist with the Boeing Medical Department and Employee Assistance Program (currently retired)