"I am a pharmacologist and my interest in the fluoridation issue goes back to the sixties, seventies, and eighties when the addition of fluoride to the public water supplies was discussed in Sweden. During that period I studied the scientific literature and the arguments for and against water fluoridation thoroughly. My conclusion was clear: Fluoride is a pharmacologically very active compound with an action on a variety of enzymes and tissues in the body already in low concentrations. In concentrations not far above those recommended it has overt toxic actions. Fluoride added to the drinking water can prevent caries to some extent but it can do so at least as efficiently when applied locally. Moreover, local treatment, preferentially via toothpaste, is more rational, because the caries-preventive action is exerted directly on the erupted teeth. The previous belief that its action is limited to an early period before the eruption of the teeth, is not correct. The systemic action of fluoride via the blood before tooth eruption can lead to damage of the enamel, and mottled teeth. This side effect, as well as other toxic actions of fluoride, is very much reduced when fluoride is applied via toothpaste.
The addition of fluoride to water supplies violates modern pharmacological principles. Recent research has revealed a sometimes enormous individual variation in the response to drugs. If a pharmacologically active agent is supplied via the drinking water, the individual variation in response, which is considerable even if the dosage is fixed, will be markedly increased by the individual variation in water consumption. In addition, the measure is ethically questionable and unnecessarily expensive. When the fluoridation issue was debated in Sweden several decades ago I took part in the public debate, and we managed to convince the Swedish Parliament that the addition of fluoride to the water supplies should be rendered illegal. Similar decisions have been taken in most European countries. There is to my knowledge no evidence to suggest that dental health in Europe is worse than in the United States."
Dr. Arvid Carlsson, 2000 winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
--Comments excerpted from the "Postscript" in "The Fluoride Deception," a book written by Christopher Bryson published in May 2004.
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