FROM THE NEWSROOM:

I just returned from a five-day trip out of town and ran into a buzz saw of e-mails and blog comments regarding an editorial we published Sunday regarding water fluoridation titled “Trust the dentists, not web theories.”

The first point I’d like to make is it seems some readers are still confused about why editorials appear on the Forum pages unsigned.

“Why does the Author not state his/her Name? What is there to hide?” asked someone ironically only identified as “Danny.”

Another blogger, also anonymous, called me out by name.

“Is this a Tony Dodero Editorial? If so, don’t you keep up with the city council meetings and hear the FACTS presented? No less than a Medical Doctor appeared before council giving his FACTUAL presentation. For God’s sake Mr. Dodero is this what they call journalism?”

To the question of whether this was a “Tony Dodero Editorial” the answer is yes and no.

Yes, because as a ranking member of the management of this newspaper, I take full responsibility for the opinions we write in unsigned editorials.

But, no, I didn’t write it.

Who wrote the editorial is of no consequence because the editorials in the Daily Pilot, and most all newspapers in the country, are the collective opinion of the newspaper, not of one individual. That’s why they aren’t signed.

So back to the editorial in question.

The editorial scoffed at the hysteria surrounding the Metropolitan Water District’s decision to fluoridate drinking water.

Anti-fluoride activists on the Internet and on our blogs imply it’s all a grand conspiracy and behind it are the fertilizer and dental industries.

Here’s how one blogger who identified herself as Maureen Jones put it.

“Dentists are paid big bucks to repair the visible effects of dental fluorosis: stained, chalky/enlarged and crooked teeth. It’s called cosmetic dentistry and orthodontics! … Most dentists couldn’t string three sentences together about the health effects of ingested fluoride. That’s the reality.”

Wow. Maybe Maureen had a bad experience with a root canal or something.

So let me try and understand this. The federal and state governments are in collusion with the dental industry to pump “poison” into our water supplies so our teeth can be malformed and dentists everywhere can become fabulously rich.

Or, the fertilizer industry (fluoride is a byproduct of phosphate fertilizer production) is in cahoots with the government to dump fluoride into our water supplies because it just can’t afford to put it anywhere else.

Heck, I bet former City Attorney Bob Burnham is involved in this, too.

Find that as hard to swallow (pun intended) as I do?

So what’s the truth? As one regular reader of the paper noted to me, the tobacco industry got away with murder for years before having to own up to its crimes.

Maybe the fluoride industry will follow a similar path and we’ll all learn someday that we’ve been hoodwinked and over-fluoridated.

Let’s just say I doubt it.

One needs only to look at the website of the federal Center for Disease Control and look at their main page on water fluoridation, www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/.

The overview statement says, “Community water fluoridation is safe and effective in preventing tooth decay, and has been identified by CDC as one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.”

The site further notes that the last five surgeon generals of the United States have endorsed water fluoridation.

The Chronic Disease Control Branch of the California Department of Health Services debunks the many, many Internet rumors.

Visit www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/cdic/cdcb, click on “Office of Oral Health” then click “Medicine and Public Health” on the left-hand side for more information. To see the facts, click “Community Water Fluoridation Program” then “Fluoride Facts and Fiction.”

Do I believe everything the government or the dental lobby says? Of course not. But I’m just having a hard time connecting the dots on this one.

To all my friends of the male persuasion, I apologize for what I’m about to say. Last week, my wife and I took a vacation to Chicago for one express purpose — to attend the “Oprah Winfrey Show.”

My wife, you see, is a huge Oprah fan. I was able to get some tickets, and off we went. And I have to admit, I enjoyed myself.

I realize with that statement I may lose my privileges at sports bars and stag poker games, or be banned from my fantasy football league, but the truth is the truth.

And the truth is, we may even be on the show, which was about health, and aging and let’s just say we were part of some audience testing and taping.

So if you watch the show (and no, I do not), tune in this Thursday and Monday.

You may just catch a glimpse of yours truly.

Happy Halloween.

TONY DODERO is the Daily Pilot’s director of news and online. He may be reached at tony.dodero@latimes.com or at (714) 966-4608. TONY DODERO is the Daily Pilot’s director of news and online. He may be reached at tony.dodero@latimes.com or at (714) 966-4608.