Once central figures in American public health, waterworks engineers are no longer involved in many decisions made about the public water supplies. This paper argues that the profession's response to the early fluoridation movement of the 1940s and 1950s marked a change in the relationship between waterworks engineers and the other constitutive groups in public health and contributed to the dis...

THE city of Pulaski in Giles County, Tenn., affords an area in which the intermittent fluoridation of water can be studied. The effect on the teeth of children of intermittent fluoridation of a municipal water supply has not been reported. The Pulaski water supply is derived from Richland Creek, while the surrounding area is served by ground water. The intermittent fluoridation of the water sup...

OBJECTIVE To provide a brief commentary review of fluoride-containing toothpastes and mouthrinses with emphasis on their use at home. Toothpastes and mouthrinses are just two of many ways of providing fluoride for the prevention of dental caries. The first investigations into incorporating fluoride into toothpastes and mouthrinses were reported in the middle 1940s. Unlike water fluoridation (wh...

OBJECTIVES Claims have been made that the effectiveness of water fluoridation has reduced due to the widespread availability of other sources of fluoride. This study examines the differences in the oral health of children living in fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas of Canterbury and Wellington, New Zealand. DESIGN The data used in this cross-sectional study had been routinely collected in...

Down syndrome (DS) birth rates (BR) as a function of maternal age exhibit a relatively flat linear regression line for younger mothers and a fairly steep one for older mothers with the second line intersecting the first line a little above maternal age 30. Consequently, overall DS-BR for all maternal ages are not a very reliable parameter for detecting environmental influences, since they may b...

BACKGROUND Community water fluoridation (CWF) is currently experiencing social resistance in Canada. Petitions have been publicly registered, municipal plebiscites have occurred, and media attention is growing. There is now concern among policy leaders whether the practice is acceptable to Canadians. As a result, this study asks: What are public opinions on CWF? METHODS Data were collected in...

The Buchanan County Board of Health (BCBOH) has reviewed and discussed the relevant facts on the issue of community water fluoridation (CWF). Subsequent to that review and discussion, the BCBOH has unanimously adopted the position which supports CWF. It is the Board’s conclusion that the science supports the current practice as sound public health policy which protects and preserves the health ...