[Narrator:] You are looking at protection against...
Water from a community...
Which has added one part of fluoride to every million parts of its public drinking water.
You are looking at protection that is being denied to 40 million American children.
Why?
Why is this safe, simple, proven protection against tooth decay not available to everybody?
[Music]
[The American Dental Association presents...]
[One in a Million]
What is fluoride?
It is a natural substance found in varying degrees in nearly all water and most foods.
Some water supplies have too little fluoride, some too much.
Some, just the right amount.
Fluoridation is the adjustment of the fluoride content to the desirable level
for the prevention of tooth decay.
The earlier that fluoridated water is used, the greater the benefit.
It is a protection that continues throughout life.
And what does it cost?
No more than the cost of an ice cream cone.
An average cost of about one dime a year can ensure up to 65 percent less tooth decay in children.
One in a million parts.
One drop in a bathtub half full of water.
One dime a year.
And yet, 40 million children are denied this protection.
Why?
Because fluoridation is a public health measure and its adoption in a community
is a matter for local governments to decide.
Unfortunately, there are strong pressure groups, professional hate-mongers,
and special interest groups who have battled against fluoridation in one community after another.
Whenever there is a hearing on a proposed ordinance to adopt fluoridation,
they are there with their typically fanatic objections.
But for every objection, there is a firm, authoritative answer.
[Citizen 1:] It's against the laws of nature. It's an unnatural poison you want to feed our kids.
[Dr. Spock:] You know, tooth decay is one of the main childhood diseases.
For centuries, the fluoride that occurs naturally in drinking water in some parts of the country
has helped prevent tooth decay.
But scientists didn't prove the benefits of fluorides until the 20th century.
Water to which fluoride has been added is no different from water
in which fluoride occurs naturally.
Both are equally effective in helping prevent tooth decay.
Fluoridating the community water supply is the best method we know
of helping children develop decay-resistant teeth.
And any measure which furthers the health of our children, I support emphatically.
[Citizen 2:] It attacks the bones, kidneys, and hearts of older people
and increases the chance of cancer.
[Dr. White:] There is no evidence whatsoever to connect fluorides with kidney disease,
heart disease, arteriosclerosis, or cancer.
I have treated many older people myself and have never found any such relationship.
As for bones, the charge has been made that if fluorides harden the teeth,
what is to prevent them from hardening the bones?
Leading authorities, however, have made several studies which indicate that the concentration
of fluorides in the public drinking water supply shows no effect on the prevalence
of bone fracture.
In fact, the truth is that controlled fluoridation does no harm to any of us,
but on the contrary, is an aid to health.
[Citizen 3:] It's mad, an infringement on human rights, a communist conspiracy
where the people are helpless to resist.
[Richard Daley:] It is entirely within the responsibility of democratic government
to provide health measures for the good of all of its people.
Relying on the best technical and legal advice, and expert advice we could receive,
the City Council passed the fluoridation ordinance.
In the five years during which this ordinance has been in effect, there has been no bad influence
or effect from this ordinance.
As a matter of fact, I would say, it was one of the great forward steps in the health program
of the City of Chicago.
I would urge all to use fluoridation in order that the health of their people, particularly youth.
[Narrator:] What will you tell your neighbor when you have a chance to talk
on the adoption of fluoridation in your community?
What storm will you brew over adding one part of fluoride to a million parts of water?
What qualms will you have about spending a dime a year?
What responsibility will you take for keeping that one-in-a-million protection
away from 40 million American children?
[The End, A Dallas Jones Production, American Dental Association]
[From the Film Library of the American Dental Association, Chicago]