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Open, honest debate is crucial to furthering knowledge, resolving controversies and moving forward on important questions of public interest.

Debate as a form of reasoning and education can be traced back to ancient times, when philosophical debates were held in ancient Greece. To be successful, there must be integrity on both sides as well as respect.

Name-calling and disrespect have no place in a debate of matters relating to public health, but in the case of water fluoridation, this has been the standard procedure of fluoridation promoters for many decades.

So imagine everyone’s surprise when in a recent Dallas city council meeting, three council members not only held back such insults but actually agreed that it was time to open up an honest discussion about the city’s water fluoridation practices.

Dallas City Council Members
Agree with Anti-Fluoridation Activist’s Plea

Despite the fact that anti-fluoridation activist Regina Imburgia had spoken to the Dallas city council several times before with no response, a meeting earlier this month was different. Three of the 15 members finally agreed with Imburgia’s message that water fluoridation in the city deserves a closer look.

Suddenly, area reporters, who had previously refused to air the “other” side to the fluoridation debate, featured the news, though not all was in a favorable light.
Dallas Morning News columnist Jacquielynn Floyd wrote a scathing column engaging in the unacceptable behavior that has become so commonplace in the fluoride debate.1