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Dental Practice, June 2002, Book Review
The following review was published in the British edition of the dental magazine, Dental Practice
"Dental Practice", June 2002. Book Review.
FLUORIDE: Drinking ourselves to death?
By B. Groves
pp.329; £12.99
Dublin: Newleaf 2001
ISBN 0-7171-3274-9
ELECTIVE fluoridation of water supplies in order to achieve a targeted
biologic response from the population occurs mainly in the USA and Britain
but also in some other English-speaking countries.
Fluoridation gives rise to emotive argument from within, but largely
outwith, the medical and dental establishments and professions, such debate
encompassing issues relating to the veracity and ethics of its use.
The accepted opinion from within the profession traditionally passes on to
generation after generation of graduates - some eventually to become
teachers - a usually positive view. How many professionals reading this
book review, like myself, have ever stirred themselves to read the
literature in any depth or to question the received wisdom? How many
dentists currently set aside a significant amount of time related to
treating iatrogenic modification/damage of tooth tissue (tetracycline
discoloration, fluorosis, etc)?
This soft cover book, which reads well, becomes addictive after a few
minutes into its text. It is structured around the questioning and
refutation - only by available scientific evidence from the literature - of
statements made by the British Fluoridation Society (BFS) in support of
fluoridation. The author postulates that this format will by such
juxtaposition . . . "serve to put in stark relief the apparent evasive
nature or clear bias of the BFS suggested responses".
Does this approach give the reader a picture that seems fair to both
profession and laity? I have to say that it does. Any statements used by
the author are based on references from the literature in refereed journals
and, as far as I am concerned, were certainly contributing to a level
playing field.
It is always wrong to entirely dismiss out of hand any reasoned argument
for or against any particular issue. This book offers a wealth of detailed
discussion and reference on this important topic, presented in an
unemotional way. It has certainly added to my personal evidence base for
opinion forming. The unique nature of fluoridation in delivering a
substance to whole populations that produces bioactive response will remain
a subject that generates hugely differing opinion as to justification and
validity.
I commend this book to all active clinical practitioners as deserving a
place in the practice library, and would go further and say it should be
essential reading for all undergraduates. "You pays yer money and takes yer
choice" has never been more applicable in these times of effective
alternatives.
I can't help feeling that it would be interesting to read a similar work
published by the BFS and the appropriate gurus in the profession that
refuted the reasoned arguments of this book and opened up the debate to
a higher level of scientific input to justify the status quo. There could
well be
some difficulty with this!
Science is about a search for truth and dogma does not have a place
let alone political expediency. There is more than a whiff of both which
this author addresses well in this book.
Keith Marshall.
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