Mandatory Fluoridation Laws

EDITORIALS M andatory Fluoridation Laws [ | M innesota in M ay an d Illinois in June may not quite m easure u p to P aris in th e spring, but to th e citizens o f those states the M ay and June o f 1967 m arked an advance in com m unity health o f significant p roportions. M innesota, w ith honorable intent, has intruded upon th e exclusivity o f the club o f w hich C onnecticut is the founder and, u n ­ til now, the only m em ber, an d Illinois should fo l­ low shortly. C onnecticut graciously accepted the 200 percent increase in club m em bership. It is a club w hich is lim ited, by virtue o f th e C o n stitu ­ tion of the U nited States and A m endm ents th e re­ to, to 50. T he club is unusual, especially in this day and age, because it is dues free and prom otes to the fullest som ething valuable but w hich costs practically nothing— w ater fluoridation. M innesota, C onnecticut, and Illinois, when the governor signs the bill already approved by the legislature, will form the trin ity o f states w hich by law m ake m andatory the flu o rid atio n o f public w ater supplies. T h e ir legislative experiences and skills should provide guidance and encourage­ m ent to the o ther 47 states to do a jo b which needs doing. T he M innesota act begins, “F o r the purpose of prom oting public health through prevention o f tooth decay. . .” and the Illinois act, as if in supplicative echo, says, “In o rd er to protect the dental health o f all citizens, especially children. . .” T he prom ulgatory responses contained in the laws adopted by the tw o state legislatures are g ratify­ ing. M innesota’s State B o ard o f H ealth . .shall req u ire the fluoridation o f w ater in all m unicipal w ater supplies before Jan u ary 1, 1970.” T he Illi­ nois State D epartm ent o f P ublic H ealth shall issue rules . .to provide for th e additio n of fluoride to public w ater supplied by ow ners o r official custo­ dians th ereo f.” M innesota and Illinois have provided th e m ate­ rial for the latest ch ap ter in th e long and involved history o f w ater fluoridation. W hat lies behind the m ere construction o f the w ords and th eir adoption by the tw o state legislatures will m ake interesting reading in the historical accounts yet to be w rit­ ten. P arts o f those accounts surely will have the flavor o f an adm ixture o f blood, sw eat an d tears. T h a t the fluoridation story is not finished is cer­ tain. T h at the story w ill have a happy ending can be equally certain. . .if the dental profession co n ­ tinues to strive to m ake it so.

Dental Research Institutes J O n l y in isolated instances, and never in the field o f sim ple m athem atics, does the total exceed the sum of its com ponent parts. A n exception, for exam ple, is w hen the com bined action o f two drugs is greater th an th a t which can be anticipated from the sum of th eir individual actions. Such a p h arm a­ cological event is called potentiation. B ut the pharm acologists have no clear title to the term potentiation, for the potentiating effects o f two sim ultaneously operating com ponents upon each other is seen occasionally in practically every field of endeavor. In dentistry, the m ost recent exciting exam ple o f potentiation is th at betw een dental education and dental research, a reaction which is being catalyzed by a new concept developed by the N a ­ tional Institute o f D ental R esearch. T his new con­ cept supports the establishm ent of dental research institutes which will be based, usually, in dental schools. T he N ID R so far has funded the develop­ m ent of five new dental research institutes. These are to be located at the universities o f A labam a, M ichigan, N o rth C arolina, Pennsylvania and W ashington. O ne o f the m ajor problem s in dental education is an insufficient num ber o f dental educators. T he present recruitm ent and training program s for den­ tal school teachers is not providing the num bers o f persons needed, and the total resources o f the university cam puses are n o t being applied well enough to dental education and research. T he dental research institute concept is de­ signed to provide funds to develop centers o f ex­ cellence which will be able to com pete effectively for researchers who have no affiliation w ith den­ tistry. T hese researchers w ould otherw ise follow the present conventional pathw ays into a d ep art­ m ent o r school o f the university m ore closely re ­ lated to their training. T he research institute concept will help define the broad lim its of dentistry and should be attrac­ tive to a great m any persons in the biological, physical and social sciences. Such persons are vital to the growth o f dentistry. O nce assem bled, these persons, by virtue o f their own professional educa­ tion and progress, will refresh the academ ic atm os­ phere in the dental schools. T he new environm ent which the research institute staff will provide will invigorate the dental teaching staff w ho, in turn, can be expected to develop new interests to stim u­ late and guide the research program s. T hus, the levels o f both teaching and research in the den­ tal school environm ent will be raised, and the re­ cruitm ent o f staffs o f the highest caliber will be easier. In other w ords, the result should be a good 265