Richard Sauerheber, Ph.D.
B.A. Biology, Ph.D. Chemistry,
University of CA, San Diego Palomar College
1140 W. Mission Rd., San Marcos, CA 92069
January 14, 2012

Dear San Diego City Utilities and Officials,

As you know the intent of the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act is to prohibit any requirement for the addition of substances into water other than to sanitize it.  You are now adding fluosilicic acid diluted hazardous waste into water to treat teeth, and you say CA State law forces you to do so in spite of wording in the SDWA. Could you then at the very least honor the mission of that State law, to improve teeth enamel, by considering getting at the root of the problem of cavity causation, for example providing calcium nutrition counseling where residents with any calcium deficiency and high dental caries incidence (see graph below), instead of broadly treating everyone with synthetic industrial fluoride through public water? This way calcium can be provided to help build strong teeth where it is actually needed. Fluoride has side effects like tooth fluorosis and bone weakening that calcium does not cause. After 30 years of detailed studies on four hundred thousand children [1] it was published that dental caries increase a massive 16 times higher in incidence in children with calcium-deficient diets, which occurs whether water contains appreciable fluoride or not. The authors concluded:
“The only practical and effective public health measure for the prevention and control of dental canes is the limitation of the fluoride content of drinking water to < 0.5 ppm, and adequate calcium nutrition (dietary calcium > 1 g/day).”

[1] S P S Teotia and M Teotia,  Dental Caries: A Disorder of High Fluoride and Low Dietary Calcium Interactions (30 Years of Personal Research), Fluoride 1994; 27(2): 59-66.

Caries Incidence % vs. Low or Normal Calcium and Low or 1 ppm Fluoride

The percentage of dental caries graphed as a function of the presence of dietary calcium deficiency (blue) accompanied with either low fluoride or approximately 1 ppm fluoride levels in drinking water,  and normal dietary calcium (red) accompanied with either low fluoride or 1 ppm fluoride in drinking water. The data are from Teotia and Teotia for a 30 year study of 400,000 children. Notice that the highest incidence of caries was found in children with a calcium deficient diet where water was approximately 1 ppm fluoride. The lowest caries incidence was found in children with low fluoride and having adequate dietary calcium.

The reason for these results are obvious. Calcium is the chief ingredient in normal teeth enamel, and normal crystalline hard enamel that resists cavities can only form in children in the absence of fluoride-induced enamel fluorosis. Fluoride is unable to counter increased caries incidence from calcium dietary deficiency and in fact fluoride contributes to caries incidence in such cases. Fluoride also causes tooth fluorosis in children, whether on calcium-deficient or normal calcium diets (not shown for brevity).

Doesn’t it make sense to use the best available mineral to help teeth? If you are planning to continue disseminating a substance to be taken internally to affect teeth, then shouldn’t it be a substance like calcium, that is a normal dietary component, has a daily dietary requirement, is a mineral nutrient and an essential body component required for teeth enamel formation, and its deficiency causes caries? Fluoride is not a mineral nutrient, has no daily dietary requirement, from the bloodstream causes tooth fluorosis, and after ingestion produces only 0.02 ppm fluoride ion in saliva [2], unable to affect teeth topically.
Calcium supplementation corrects calcium deficiency that causes inadequate enamel formation and thus conditions that lead to dental caries. Let’s treat the cause, insufficient enamel, and not brushing after eating sugary foods. Let’s not broadly attempt to treat the symptom, cavities, with fluoride in drinking water where dosage cannot be controlled, where absence of fluoride does not cause cavities as demonstrated by these data.

Richard Sauerheber, Ph.D.