How did water fluoridation begin?
The facts: In the early 1900s, a dentist in the small town of Colorado Springs, Colorado noted that most local people had brown staining on their teeth, but very little tooth decay. Research eventually linked both the staining and the reduction in tooth decay to the level of fluoride in the water supply. Further research showed that a fluoride level of one part per million in the water supply strengthened teeth without causing staining, leading to the town of Grand Rapids, Michigan being artificially fluoridated in 1945. A dramatic reduction in tooth decay was noticed within a few years, and other towns and cities across the world soon followed their example. In 1953, Beaconsfield near Launceston became the first Australian town to be fluoridated, and all Australian capital cities except Brisbane followed in the 1960s and 70s. In 1964, Townsville became the largest Queensland city to fluoridate its water supply, and studies since have shown children in Townsville to have significantly
