"Wyo. Debate Simmers Decades After Fluoridation"

"SHERIDAN, Wyo. -- A Cold War 'red scare' campaign against compulsory medication helped kill off five years of fluoridation in this northern Wyoming city in 1954.

The federal government has long since called fluoridation one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. But it was only a few weeks ago that Sheridan's City Council voted to resume fluoridating municipal drinking water.

Then, On Jan. 7, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to lower the recommended level of fluoride in drinking water for the first time in nearly 50 years, based on a fresh review of the science that suggested some Americans, particularly children, may be getting too much fluoride.

Anti-fluoride activists here and nationwide said they feel some vindication."

Mead Gruver reports for the Associated Press January 15, 2011.