Editor’s note: This commentary is by Dr. Judith M Fisch, who is a practicing dentist in Rutland, a board member of the Vermont State Dental Society and a trustee of the American Dental Association.
Water fluoridation is one of the most effective choices communities can make to prevent health problems and improve the oral health of all residents.
Unfortunately, opponents of fluoridation want you to overlook the overwhelming scientific evidence that proves these facts. All too often, they resort to creating confusion and fear, frequently with bizarre conspiracy theories they proclaim as fact.
To be sure, it is appropriate for every resident and community to ask questions and get answers about water fluoridation, how it works and why doctors and dentists are all recommending it. We encourage an informed and robust dialogue around all matters of public health. Yet, it is critically important that the conclusions you draw from these discussions are supported by scientific facts.
In the case of fluoridation, the evidence is awesomely clear: Vermonters can receive important dental benefits by drinking fluoridated water. Most importantly, the same evidence clearly concludes it is safe. Communities throughout the country have had water fluoridation policies for decades. The same communities frequently have much lower rates of cavities, dental disease and other costly oral health problems.
Opponents of fluoridation do us all – especially children, and Vermonters who have oral health care challenges or limited access to preventative oral health services – a great disservice when they make outrageous, unsupported claims.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), every $1 spent on fluoridation saves $38 in dental treatment. For about the same cost of restoring one tooth, a lifetime of water fluoridation can be provided to one person.
For all of these reasons, Vermont’s society of community dentists supports water fluoridation. It is such an essential tool for improving our state’s oral health, that expanding fluoridation to more communities is a key component of our Vermont Action for Dental Health plan. And grassroots, community-led coalitions have formed throughout Vermont to lead these discussions at the local level.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. The American Dental Association, the American Medical Association and the nation’s leading public health experts can all verify the safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation.
The supposed risks are simply not supported by decades of scientifically verified facts. Opponents of fluoridation do us all – especially children, and Vermonters who have oral health care challenges or limited access to preventative oral health services – a great disservice when they make outrageous, unsupported claims. Or, worse, when they manufacture “facts.”
I know I speak for my colleagues within the Vermont State Dental Society and the American Dental Association when I say fluoridation is safe and is one of the best tools for improving the oral health of our communities. In fact, the CDC has recognized water fluoridation as one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.
Please support the fluoridation of water.
