Essay --

Over the past century, many countries have started implementing community water fluoridation as a method of promoting dental care. As a result, fluoridation has generated both positive and negative consequences for the human body and the societies. Fluoridation is defined as â€Å"the process of adding fluoride ions to the public water supplies for the purpose of reducing the incidence of dental caries.†1 Whether or not community water fluoridation will benefit society is a controversial issue. On the one hand, excess amounts of fluoride could lead to potential health problems and affect many tissues in the body besides the teeth. Furthermore, fluoridation removes individuals’ rights to choose what they ingest from the public water supplies and their rights to receive tailored medication. On the other hand, water fluoridation is considered safe for both the environment and individuals at optimal levels and it is an effective approach to distribution. Finally, because th e access to running water is widespread and cost-effective, water fluoridation could benefit the whole population equally. Firstly, when the amount of fluoride in the human body exceeds the prescribed standards, there is an association between fluoride and several health concerns. There is minimal difference between the toxic and effective dose. Therefore it is possible for individuals to suffer from consequences of fluoride over-exposure, such as dental and skeletal fluorosis. According to the Fluoride Alert Organization, fluoride could also disrupt the normal endocrine functions of several tissues and organs, including the bones, the brain, the thyroid gland, the pineal gland, and even blood sugar levels.2 For example, researchers claimed that acute poisoning of fluor... ...ves in the public water supplies must apply to the levels formulated in the â€Å"Guidelines for the Use of Fluorides† published by Ministry of Health. According to New Zealand Dental Association’s study, in every single year, water fluoridation is estimated to prevent 58,000-267,000 cases of dental caries and associated illnesses. Also, there is a strong association between community water fluoridation and the decrease of children’s dental hospital admission rates.10 Over 60 years ago, researchers have been recording the effectiveness of community water fluoridation,8 which shows that there is a history of positive water fluoridation. Together with these contemporary findings, they prove the continuing effectiveness of fluoridation. Thus, public water supplies are ideal medium for fluoride and water fluoridation is a both safe and effective method at recommended levels.