Dover Air Force Base ordered to restart water fluoridation

Friday, April 13, 2012 by: Doug Cragoe
Tags: water fluoridation, Air Force base, Dover

(NaturalNews) Dover Air Force base in Maryland stopped adding fluoride to their water system in 2007. In 2010 they reported this in their water quality report. After this knowledge became public the Air Force issued new orders three months later that forced the base to restart fluoridation. The news could also have resulted in defense department orders to fluoridate more bases and facilities.

In 2007 the base stopped supplying water to the housing units where the military families live. A private company had purchased the housing and a non-governmental company took over supplying non-fluoridated water to the housing units and the public school on the base. The base now says they had no requirement to add fluoride in 2007, so they stopped doing it. They are unwilling to say anything more about why they stopped in 2007.

The PEW Children's Dental Campaign gets involved

It's likely that the PEW Children's Dental Campaign heard about Dover. PEW is an advocacy group that pushes for more mandatory fluoridation. They convinced the defense department to force more military bases and facilities to fluoridate their water.

According PEW in 2012: "A memorandum by the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs instructed U.S. Department of Defense facilities that operate water systems serving more than 3,300 personnel to provide optimally fluoridated water....Although most military bases have provided fluoridated water for decades, this memo expands fluoridation to more service facilities. The PewChildren's Dental Campaignbegan working with a senior Defense Department official two years ago on data collection that prompted the decision."

The data collection by PEW would have consisted of figuring out which bases and facilities did not have fluoridation, or had stopped doing it like Dover.

A clue to the thinking at the Dover base in 2007 is revealed in a report by their dental squadron. Children in the housing units and the school were no longer drinking fluoridated water, but these dentists were not gung ho on fluoride supplements for children. They wrote: "However, many physicians and dentists do not recommend supplemental fluoride prescriptions. Many children get adequate fluoride through processed foods and drinks and from food and drink intake at other locations that are prepared with fluoridated water. In addition, many physicians and dentists believe the benefit of supplemental fluoride does not outweigh the risk of fluorosis (white spots on teeth due to too much fluoride in the diet)." For military dentists to admit that the risks of fluoride supplements could outweigh any potential benefit was unusual.

Air Force orders say no fluoridation for adults

In 2010 the Secretary of the Air Force issued new orders that forced Dover to restart fluoridation. The orders required fluoridation when children under 10 are drinking the base water. Strangely, the orders also said "Fluoride shall not be added to systems where the DoD public water system served population does not include children age 10 and under." For decades fluoridation promoters have claimed that fluoridation reduced tooth decay in adults as well as children. Apparently the Air Force did not buy into that idea, or they saw negative health effects from fluoridated water in adults. The 2012 memo from the secretary of defense said fluoridation reduced tooth decay in adults, and it will probably overrule the 2010 Air Force order.

Dover air force base tried to get away with stopping fluoridation, but got caught when they revealed it in their water quality report. The irony is that this report was uncovered by fluoridation opponents, and may have resulted in orders to fluoridate more military bases as well as Dover.

Sources for this article include:

2009 Dover Base Water Quality Report:
http://www.google.com

PEW & military bases: http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=85899368154

Dover Dental Squadron provides choices for fluoride protection:
http://www.dover.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123106227

Air Force document with the quote: "Fluoride shall not be added to systems where the DoD public water system served population does not include children age 10 and under."
www.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AFI48-144.pdf

About the author:
Doug Cragoe is an activist concerned with the increasing level of fluoride exposure in the United States.