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Show be Safe, and Effective, and Economical. Ec-onomical. 4. We want fluoridation because be-cause we know that it can improve im-prove the health, comfort and appearance of the people of our communities. We know that there will be opposition to fluoridation. There has always been a highly vocal vo-cal opposition to every public health measure. There are people peo-ple who still object to the pasteurization of milk. There are those who do not have their children protected by vaccination vaccina-tion or inoculation. There are those who object to chlorination of communal water supplies. There are those who do not use iodized salt, and who do not belive in iodine tablets. On the other hand, those whc advocate the fluoridation oi water are: the dentists, physicians, physi-cians, scientists and public health officials. It is, therefore, up to the people of Utah County Coun-ty to decide to whom they will listen: Again let us repeat: We advocate ad-vocate the fluoridation of water wa-ter because it has been prover to be effective, safe and economical. econ-omical. Provo District , Dental Society Forum . . . ! An Open Letter to the ' People of Utah Co. I We the dentists of the Provo ' District Dental Society hereby endorse without reservation of any kind, the process of fluoridation fluori-dation of the water supplies of the cities in Utah County. Very simply this is the adjustment ' of the concentration of fluorides fluor-ides in water to their most ef-1 ef-1 fective level ,that is, one part per million. Fluorides are pres-! pres-! ent in a large percentage of water. Utah County water sup plies have been shown to be deficient. Properly controlled long term studies of fluoridated water supplies have shown that this process is a very effective means of reducing tooth decay. These studies have also proven conclusively to us that fluoridation fluor-idation is one of the safest public health measures ever tested. We do not believe that fluoridation is a panacea for dental decay. If other dental health measures such as nutrition nutri-tion and cleanliness are ignored, decay can still ruin mouths. The question has been asked: If this cuts down dental decay, de-cay, why then are the dentists in favor of it? Some of the reasons follow: 1. Because we want it for our own children and grandchildren. grand-children. Benefits are seen for only those teeth formed while drinking fluoridated water. Adult teeth would benefit very little, if any. 2. We want fluoridation because be-cause we realize' that we cannot can-not keep up with increased rates of decay. A few years ago it was necessary for those going go-ing into the armed forces of the United States to have a reasonable number of healthy teeth. Now all that is required is an upper and lower jaw free from gross infection. This change has been necessary because be-cause there are not enough of our young men with healthy teeth to man our armed forces. We need every safe help we can muster to keep the teeth of the nation, and to keep them healthy. At the present time dental schools in the western states are graduating 400 students stu-dents annually. Western dental schools, it is estimated by the U.S. Public Health Service, must graduate 1,600 dentists per year between 1960 and 1975 to meet the Western Region needs. That is to maintain one dentist per 1,900 people. In the whole United States, according to the latest reports of the Bureau of Economic Research and Statistics of the American Dental Association, the year ending in mid 1957 will see a net increase in active dentists of about 1,165, whereas the Bureau estimates 1,485 new dentists are needed to maintain the current population dentist ratio. 3. We want fluoridation because be-cause we know it has been thoroughly tested and found to |