Native to Durango, before water fluoridation, I spent a lot of time in Cyrus Johnson’s dental chair. My older sister and I both had many cavities. Many teeth were filled; the worst extracted.
I first remember reading about fluoride when I was helping my dad do repairs on a chiropractor’s office at 1304 Main Ave. I read a pamphlet saying water fluoridation was a communist plot.
Since I was in the ninth grade and because I was always going to the dentist, I thought dentistry would be a good career. I went to the Durango Public Library and looked up fluoridation of water. I soon found out that if I had the advantages of fluoridation, I could have avoided many cavities and toothaches as a young child.
I learned how the benefits of fluoride had been discovered in the Colorado Springs area where a dentist had observed that people with brown-stained teeth had hardly any cavities.
After much research by pioneers in dentistry, chemistry and the National Institute of Health, it was found that fluoride was the cause of the staining, and the good news was that in areas where there was either natural fluoride or treated water supplies, the right amount of fluoride did not cause staining and did dramatically reduce dental decay.
A 15-year study determined that a tiny controlled amount of fluoride resulted in a 50 to 60 percent reduction in dental decay for school children. Thus, the efforts of these pioneers resulted in one of the most important public health measures in the history of mankind.
The fluoride ingested during childhood, when the enamel is being developed or formed, results in the substitution of a fluoride ion for a calcium ion which effects a change from calcium hydroxyapatite to fluorohydroxyapatite. This enamel is more resistant to acid attack produced when bacteria eat sugar, or the acids in soda pop and other acidic foods prevalent in our modern diet.
The fluoridated enamel developed during tooth development, through water-sourced fluoridation or supplementation, is distributed throughout the enamel. Topical fluoride treatments from toothpaste or clinical treatment only affect the outer layer of enamel.
All my reading about fluoride and dentistry’s efforts at prevention of pain and suffering resulted in my becoming a dentist. As a United States Public Health Service dental intern, I was appalled at the levels of decay in the children we treated at the Gallup Indian Medical Center in Gallup, N.M.
As a dental officer stationed in Juneau, Alaska, I treated native children living in Juneau where the water was not fluoridated. I also treated kids from Douglas, just across the Gastineau Channel from Juneau, where the water supply was fluoridated.
Juneau kids had rampant dental disease, while Alaska native children growing up in Douglas had many fewer cavities. It was easy to tell the difference between teeth with the right amount of fluoride versus the kids who drank water that was fluoride-deficient.
I was fortunate to return to Durango, where I practiced for 45 years. The first thing I noticed about children in Durango was their beautiful teeth. Cavities were smaller and fewer. I noticed no fluorosis in children drinking Durango’s treated water.
The Durango City Council passed water fluoridation in the early 1950s. People in my age group had many cavities and spent a lot of time and money at the dentist. Youngsters I saw from Silverton before fluoride had a much higher decay rate compared to Durango kids.
The fluorosis I saw in some teeth was caused from high levels of naturally occurring fluoride in some local well water. Higher levels had more stain.
Water wells in our area must be tested for fluoride levels. I have cousins with brown teeth from high-fluoride water wells (5 parts fluoride million per million parts water), mild fluorosis with white spots (from wells with 2 parts ppm) and cousins with no fluorosis who drank Durango’s supplemented water.
I made sure my own children had the right amount of fluoride, and made sure they didn’t eat toothpaste. Now adults, they are all healthy and intelligent, as are their children, and they have beautiful teeth.
Please continue the fluoride program. Think about the pressures to get rid of vaccines and the resulting increase of measles and other childhood diseases as a result. Prevention is the key, and fluoride supplementation is a big factor.
It is essential to our public health.
Carl E. Johnson, D.D.S., was born and raised in Durango and practiced dentistry here for 45 years. Reach him at carlejohnsondds@gmail.com.
