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.