By DARKWING DUCK I Special to the Daily Planet
CITYWIDE Across Santa Monica, children’s teeth are rotting, their tongues are swelling and their breathe is beginning to smell of an odor most often associated with that of your obese neighbor who decides to play football every Thanksgiving morning.
Opponents of fluoride warned Santa Monica about negative effects of the additive for years, but the City Council didn’t listen. And nearly four months after drinking fluoridated tap water, the city’s children are beginning to suffer the consequences.
Local dentists are reporting extreme cases of flourishes, with kids coming into examining rooms with teeth that look like shards of broken glass or as if they had been chewing tobacco for 25 years.
“It makes your stomach turn,” Dr. James Goodtooth of City by the Sea Dentistry said about the rotting teeth in the mouths of local youth. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Something must be done.”
After years of debate, fluoridated water began flowing out of Santa Monica taps in November 2007. Opponents of the additive tried to argue against the process, saying too much fluoride could be dangerous, especially for children. They were never convinced that increasing the level of the chemical in water would be beneficial.
However, advocates of fluoride said the change in water would help prevent tooth decay, leading to the 2003 decision to allow fluoridated tap water.
Now, City Hall must deal with the consequences. “A young bum came up to me yesterday and asked me for help,”Mayor Pro Tem Richard Blume said.“I looked down at the boy’s teeth and was shocked. Then I realized, he was my son. What have we done?”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 1, 2008. Read the original PDF.