The failure of fluoridation in Chile. A critical analysis after eleven years.

Fluoridation has acquired the unenviable distinction of having become the most controversial issue in the history of dentistry. In one country after another throughout the world, wherever water supplies have been fluoridated or wherever fluoridation has even been considered, it has been vigorously opposed by increasing numbers of dentists, physicians, public health officials, biochemists, physiologists, and other professional and scientific workers. These opponents claim that fluoridation is not safe and that it does not really prevent dental caries. They say that fluoride, at the most, merely retards or delays the appearance of tooth decay for a period of one, two, or perhaps three years. This is certainly not prevention in the true sense of that word. In Chile, fluoridation was first introduced in 1953 in the city of Curico [1]. Twelve years later, 65% of the entire Chilean population was being fluoridated [2]. In its official report of 1964, after eleven years of fluoridation, the National Health Service of Chile concluded that fluoridation had markedly decreased the incidence of dental caries in that country [3]. But many people in Chile disagree with the National Health Service. So, in Chile, as in other countries throughout the world, fluoridation has become a highly controversial issue. On December 19, 1966, Dr. Adolfo BRINER of the National Health Service publicly acknowledged the growing opposition to fluoridation, but did not succeed in convincing critics that fluoridation was safe and effective [4]. On January 18, 1967 Dr. Hugo SIEVERS, President of the Scientific Society of Chile, warned of the dangers of fluoridation and urged that it be stopped at once [5]. A scientific debate of fluoridation is scheduled to be held in Santiago, Chile, on April 28, 29 and 30, 1967, under the joint auspices of the Scientific Society of Chile and the Chilean Society of Bromatology, Nutrition, and Toxicology. Each country differs in certain respects from other countries. These differences must be recognized, considered, and evaluated before any public health measure that is used in one country is adopted by another country. Unfortunately, the National Health Service of Chile introduced fluoridation into that country without previously studying conditions that are unique to Chile, In other words, the National Health Service first began to fluoridate. Then, when it encountered criticism, it attempted to justify what it had already done by conducting the kinds of studies that it should originally have carried out before it went ahead with fluoridation. But the results which are now available after eleven years conclusively show that fluoridation is a complete fiasco. The Chilean population was fluoridated long before 1953, when the National Health Service began to artificially fluoridate the community water supply of Curico.