Thursday, February 28, 2008

www.whec.com - Tooth decay in children and toddlers

www.whec.com - Tooth decay in children and toddlers:

In fluoridated Rochester and Buffalo, NY: "Hundreds of local children are ending up in the operation room because of cavities that could have been prevented. Experts say its what can happen when parents don't take precautions.

A three year old is in the operating room at Strong Memorial Hospital, the result of tooth decay. Dr. Robert Berkowitz says, 'It's unlikely we'll be able to fix them and we'll have to extract them.'

Under anesthesia, a child is having 6 teeth pulled, four stainless steel crowns put in the lower jaw and three fillings in the upper jaw. The culprit, bacteria from sugar.

Dr. Berkowitz says, 'Through baby bottles with Hawaiian Punch apple juice in sippy cups.'

The Eastman Dental Center sees more than 300 of these kinds of cases a year. In Buffalo, 700 plus cases, and thousands state wide." (New York is 73% fluoridated)

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

I-Team: Dentists Rarely Treat Workers' Comp Patients - Baltimore News Story - WBAL Baltimore

I-Team: Dentists Rarely Treat Workers' Comp Patients - Baltimore News Story - WBAL Baltimore:

"The I-Team began contacting dentists to find out why they wouldn’t accept workers' comp cases. They found out that money is the root of the problem."

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Tap Water Is Wise Choice -- Courant.com

Tap Water Is Wise Choice -- Courant.com: "stop the state's practice of purchasing bottled water at taxpayer expense, and to encourage state employees to drink tap water instead [Other Opinion, Feb. 25, 'State Must Get Off the Bottle']. This makes a great deal of sense from both financial and environmental standpoints."

Officials in Connecticut, where fluoridation is mandated, are drinking fluoride-free bottled water and I bet they have less cavities than the poor people in Hartford who can only afford to drink the fluoridated tap water.

Dental system in crisis as one in six Britons can't afford a check-up | the Daily Mail

Dental system in crisis as one in six Britons can't afford a check-up | the Daily Mail:

"The soaring cost of dental treatment has been blamed for millions of Britons having teeth in shockingly poor state, a new report has found. More than 11million adults have not seen a dentist over the past two years because they could not afford to have a check-up."

Fluoridation won't fix this problem

Monday, February 25, 2008

AMNews: March 3, 2008. Tooth or consequences: The costs of poor dental fitness ... American Medical News

AMNews: March 3, 2008. Tooth or consequences: The costs of poor dental fitness ... American Medical News:

"A few years ago, an extremely sick, 2�-year-old boy came to the Houston office of pediatrician Ray Wagner, MD, with a 105-degree temperature. The illness, which required five days of hospitalization and a course of intravenous antibiotics, got its start in an infected tooth; which, in turn, resulted from poor dental hygiene and a lack of dental care. Dr. Wagner, who was then an assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical School, decided to use this case as a hook for an educational session on oral health.

'We discovered that early childhood caries [tooth decay] was the most common chronic disease of children,' he said. 'We were all shocked.'"

Houston, Texas, is fluoridated

Sunday, February 24, 2008

CBS 7 - Your Eye on West Texas

CBS 7 - Your Eye on West Texas:

"Nowadays Lemos' main focus is on stopping an epidemic, 'We're seeing more and more damage to the children's teeth at an earlier age.' And she and Gloria Steelman both think sugar is one of the main culprits."

Midland, Texas, is fluoridated

Saturday, February 23, 2008

San Luis Obispo County’s website | 02/23/2008 | Toothaches rife among poor youths

San Luis Obispo County’s website | 02/23/2008 | Toothaches rife among poor youths: "Too many children in San Luis Obispo County suffer from untreated toothaches and have little or no access to dental care, experts said Friday at the county’s Oral Health Summit."

San Luis Obispo City (California) has been fluoridated since 1954

Campaign pushes dental care - LA Daily News

Campaign pushes dental care - LA Daily News: "PACOIMA - Dental disease among children is five times more prevalent than asthma in the San Fernando Valley and statewide, a result of poor nutrition, little education about oral health among parents and lack of access to dentists, community leaders said Friday."

The city of Los Angeles, California, has been fluoridated since the mid-1990s.

""The number one cause of missed school in LAUSD is dental disease," said Dr. Maritza Cabezas, a dentist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health."

Dentist of the Back Roads

Dentist of the Back Roads:

"Sarver sees an irony in the lack of Medicaid dental coverage for the old and poor in Louisiana and many other states. 'They'll pay for eyeglasses or penile implants. But they won't pay for teeth.'"

"Nine hundred patients with severe gum disease or abscess. Half of my patients. I take everybody that has swelling. Everybody in pain. Everybody that's got loose teeth. And I help them as best I can. With funding. Without funding. The family pays some, the nursing homes. Sometimes no one pays. It doesn't matter. I do it."

On his way to his next place, Folse stops at a cemetery to visit the grave of a fragile old woman who died recently from complications of a facial abscess. She had many medical issues, but an infection in her mouth finally overran her body's defenses.

"This is an example of oral health being a matter of life and death," he says. "Over the past seven or eight years, I've seen oral health contribute to the death of at least one or two a year."

Friday, February 22, 2008

Maryland Works to Fix Broken Medicaid Program|ABC 7 News

Maryland Works to Fix Broken Medicaid Program|ABC 7 News:

"Mustaffa's mom searched for months to find a dentist who would treat him and his four-year-old brother. Even after 12-year-old Deamonte Driver, who died from a dental infection like Mustaffa's, children on Medicaid are still having trouble finding dentists who will treat them."

Maryland is 94% fluoridated

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Fluoride: Should It Be ... - Blogs - Revolution Health

Fluoride: Should It Be ... - Blogs - Revolution Health:

"Dr. Garica: Fluoride should only be used in individuals at high risk for cavities."

ADA.org: ADA News: AAPD teams up with Head Start

ADA.org: ADA News: AAPD teams up with Head Start:

After 60 years of water fluoridation reaching 2/3 of Americans on public water supplies and virtually 100% via the food and beverage supply, "Among Head Start children, he said, decay rates often range from 30 to 40 percent of 3-year-olds and 50-60 percent of 4-year-olds, significantly higher than caries rates for children in general across the nation."

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Dental Care for Kids—Still a Nightmare for Some - 13WHAM.com

Dental Care for Kids—Still a Nightmare for Some - 13WHAM.com:

"At Eastman Dental Center [in fluoridated Rochester, NY] , Dr. Robert Berkowitz said, 'We see children 2, 3, 4 years of age with multiple decay…that needs complex restorations.'

'These kids show up on our door step with advanced tooth decay,” Berkowitz said, “but the decay process starts very early.'"

"Advanced tooth decay in toddlers is a growing problem, especially for low-income families. Four out of five dentists won't see Medicaid patients."

Dental Nightmare: Children Strapped Down, Given Unnecessary Root Canals | Dental Practice Marketing and Management Blog

Dental Nightmare: Children Strapped Down, Given Unnecessary Root Canals | Dental Practice Marketing and Management Blog: "Now former clinic director Dr. David Gardner (sent to prison for larceny) is speaking out for the first time, publicly acknowledging that much of this dental work was unnecessary. Pressured by the parent company to make at least a million dollars a year, Gardner resorted to Medicaid fraud. “The biggest thing you can do is those baby root canals and crowns because it’s $220 that Medicaid does not question,” said Gardner."

Mars and Venus Go to Dental School | Dental Practice Marketing and Management Blog

Mars and Venus Go to Dental School | Dental Practice Marketing and Management Blog:

"“The real problem is the fact that no one, male or female, wants to work in rural, poor or underserved areas.” (Female dentist)"

CQ Politics | A Year After Tragedy, Witnesses Say Medicaid Dental Coverage Still Lacking

CQ Politics | A Year After Tragedy, Witnesses Say Medicaid Dental Coverage Still Lacking:

"The number of Medicaid-enrolled children in the state who had not received dental care in the last three years is 22,555,"

Maryland is 94% fluoridated.

CQ Politics | A Year After Tragedy, Witnesses Say Medicaid Dental Coverage Still Lacking

CQ Politics | A Year After Tragedy, Witnesses Say Medicaid Dental Coverage Still Lacking:

"One year after a 12-year-old Medicaid beneficiary [who lived in a fluoridated area] could not obtain dental care and died after tooth decay spread to his brain, witnesses told a House panel that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has done little to improve beneficiaries’ access to dental services."

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Denti-Cal kids go wanting: 25% never been to dentist - Sacramento Business Journal:

Denti-Cal kids go wanting: 25% never been to dentist - Sacramento Business Journal::

"Nearly one in four California children have never been to a dentist, including half of all children under the age of 5, a new report has shown.

Uninsured children are least likely to have seen a dentist, and kids on Denti-Cal, California's Medicaid dental program, are less likely to go than kids with other kinds of insurance, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Health Care Foundation."

Apparently, California dentists prefer to treat the water supply rather than low-income patients who need them the most. They instigated massive amounts of money be put into fluoridation schemes.

Friday, February 15, 2008

PJStar.com - Journal Star News Story

PJStar.com - Journal Star News Story:

"A survey by the Division of Oral Health with the Illinois Department of Public Health found a third of students in Head Start programs had some tooth decay, with 7 percent of those needing urgent care. For third-graders, half had cavities."

Fluoridation is required in Illinois

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Verizon Online - Business Center News

Verizon Online - Business Center News:

Richmond and most of Virginia is fluoridated:

"'Last year, for instance, we had 15 children . . . who required immediate care,' said Wood, a pediatric dentist in practice in Chesterfield.

'They had rampant decay. That means decay on over half of their teeth,' he said. 'They had draining abscesses, swollen cheeks. Sometimes the eye was shut because of severe infection. Because of the age of the child and the amount of care needed, we took 15 to the operating room.'"

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Is fluoride safe? - Features, Health & Wellbeing - Independent.co.uk

Is fluoride safe? - Features, Health & Wellbeing - Independent.co.uk: "In the United States, where 65 per cent of people are routinely subjected to the chemical, the worst tooth decay occurs in poor neighbourhoods of the largest cities, the vast majority of which have been fluoridated for decades."

Sunday, February 10, 2008

UK Against Fluoridation: UK - From Ann

UK Against Fluoridation: UK - From Ann:

"12.5% of fluoridated populations need dental veneers to treat their fluorosis (York Review). Supposing the entire country (U.K.)was fluoridated, that comes to 7.5 Million people. Dental veneers start at �550 per tooth, and have to be replaced every 5-10 years. Dentists stand to be much busier after fluoridation than before - and most are private these days."

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Albany, N.Y.: Timesunion.com - Print Story

Albany, N.Y.: Timesunion.com - Print Story: "Fluoride is a byproduct of the manufacturing process of phosphate fertilizer. Much of the nation's fertilizer comes from central Florida, said Tony Besthoff, owner of Faesy and Besthoff, a Connecticut chemical distributor that serves some New York communities.

Fluoride occurs naturally in phosphate rock that is found 25 to 40 feet below the ground in what was once ocean. The fluorine gas created during the fertilizer manufacturing process used to be burned in smokestacks and released into the air, Besthoff said.

When pollution laws were enacted, manufacturers began trapping the gas and converting it to fluoride.

'Making the product is energy intensive and delivering it is energy intensive,' Besthoff said."

Friday, February 08, 2008

KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | What's in Your Water? Pt. 3

KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | What's in Your Water? Pt. 3:

"'Most people since the 70's or so have been under the facade that fluoride in the water was good or good for your teeth,' Alderson said.

'There is some research now suggesting that high fluoride in the water can actually cause dental carries and cavities,' Bartlett said. 'That is the cause for the discoloration of the teeth that you see in the area.'

The disparity is clear.
Listed as the source for why fluoride is in the water, the EPA states it's a 'Water additive which promotes strong teeth.'
Yet right next to that, as the potential health effects from ingesting the water, 'Bone disease, and children may get mottled teeth.'"

Friday, February 01, 2008

Our Say: On dental care, poor kids have little to smile about Line up and beg - Opinion - (HometownAnnapolis.com)

Our Say: On dental care, poor kids have little to smile about Line up and beg - Opinion - (HometownAnnapolis.com):

"30 percent of the children in Maryland - the richest state in the nation, according to some rankings - suffer from untreated dental disease."