Debating Water Fluoridation Before Dr. Strangelove

Dados Bibliográficos

ID11029204
AutoresCatherine Carstairs (0000-0002-6054-0661, Catherine Carstairs is with the Department of History, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario., autor correspondente)
Ano2015
Volume105
Fascículo8
Páginas1559-1569
Data de publicação2015-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
EditoraAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2015.302660
PMID26066938
OpenAlexW2120858955
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas7

In the 1930s, scientists learned that small amounts of fluoride naturally occurring in water could protect teeth from decay, and the idea of artificially adding fluoride to public water supplies to achieve the same effect arose. In the 1940s and early 1950s, a number of studies were completed to determine whether fluoride could have harmful effects. The research suggested that the possibility of harm was small. In the early 1950s, Canadian and US medical, dental, and public health bodies all endorsed water fluoridation. I argue in this article that some early concerns about the toxicity of fluoride were put aside as evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of water fluoridation mounted and as the opposition was taken over by people with little standing in the scientific, medical, and dental communities. The sense of optimism that infused postwar science and the desire of dentists to have a magic bullet that could wipe out tooth decay also affected the scientific debate

Art · Aside · Dental decay · Environmental health · Fluoride · Harm · Magic bullet · Opposition (politics) · Oral health · Political science · Public health · Water fluoridation · Chemistry · Dental Education, Practice, Research · Dental Health and Care Utilization · Dentistry · Fluoride Effects and Removal · Law · Medicine · Nursing