Two outbreaks of influenza swept the United States in the fall of 1957 and the winter of 1958, resulting in 60,000 more deaths than would be expected under normal conditions. There were, in addition, more than 26,000 ex¬ cess deaths during the first 3 months of 1960 which also were considered to be the result of influenza.
AT the present time there are approximately 100 communities fluoridating their water supplies, using either sodium fluoride, sodium silicofluoride (sodium fluosilicate), hydrofluoric acid, or hydrofluosilicic acid. Undoubtedly there are several hundred more communities in one stage or another of planning for fluoridation. In considering the fluoride compound to be used, some communities are weighing cost, ease of handling, and engineering conveniences rather than dental-cariesreducing ability. Some authorities believe any fluoride compound soluble to the extent of one part per million behaves in a similar manner in solution. However, sodium fluoride as the fluoridating agent of communal water supplies is the only compound for which data are available to verify the caries-reducing ability of fluorine.Over the past two decades, various theories have been propounded for reducing the incidence of human dental caries; only the use of fluorides, however, has proved very successful and has given assurance of possibly reducing the general decay rate in the future.
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