Update on fluoridation

In a Jan. 7, 2008, article in [I]The American Dental Association News[/I], an announcement was made that “a watershed moment in the history of fluoridation has occurred in the United States.”

On Dec. 3, 2007, at 9am Pacific Standard Time, California’s largest water agency completed efforts to fluoridate the water that reaches some 18 million residents in Southern California. This represents the single largest expansion of fluoridation in the U.S.

How did this happen? The California Dental Association worked with the California Fluoridation Workgroup, comprising a broad coalition of experts and stakeholders, to bring the issue to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Additionally, the California Dental Association provided scientific, educational, and financial support to assist the Water Agency to support and implement the plan.

“This milestone fluoridation initiative and tremendous public health success story was made possible through the persistent efforts and partnerships between dentistry, public health, and governmental agencies that have the potential to make a tangible difference in so many people’s lives,” said Dr Lindsey A. Robinson, chair of The American Dental Association Council on Access, Prevention, and Inter-professional Relations. Dr Robinson further stated that “this is a prime example of the many resources that organized dentistry has to offer in terms of promoting the oral health of the public.”

So, what does all these mean to those of us in the CNMI? We all know we cannot drink the water here on island; we cannot lobby to fluoridate the public water supply. The ONLY option was to convince an owner of a local water company on island to purchase the necessary equipment to place a therapeutic amount of fluoride in the bottled water that they sell. Saipan Ice and Tony Pelligrino have made this dream come true.

There is nothing as heartbreaking than to witness small children brought into dental clinics on island with primary and permanent teeth decayed to the gum line. Most of these children are terrified of the dentist, frequently because parents have said very negative things to them about dentistry.

So, they walk around in pain, because the fear of a visit to the dentist trumps the pain they are experiencing. And many of them have difficulty chewing their food. For many, the decay is so invasive around primary teeth that the buds of the permanent teeth are at high risk for a lifetime of damage and disease!

Believe me, the dental profession would like every child to reach maturity without a single cavity. That is why dentistry is willing to contribute large sums of money plus expertise to educate government agencies to fluoridate their water systems. This all started some 67 years ago. And to date, there is not a single case, on record, of a child being injured by the addition of fluoride to their drinking water.

Every day I beg parents to purchase the fluoridated water for the entire family. At ToothWorks we actually give bottled fluoridated water to our patients.

The addition of a therapeutic dosage (one part of fluoride to one million parts of water) is considered to be one of the 10 outstanding advances in Public Health medicine in the 20th century.

I learned last evening that the cost of the fluoridated bottled drinking water is exactly the same as the non-fluoridated water. There is no excuse, for those of you with small children, and even those up to 20, to not purchase this water for your entire family.

Everyone on Saipan must purchase bottled water. Give your children the gift of prevention. You cannot afford not to do this.
[B] Alan Stuart Markoff, DDS, MBA, MAGD, FACD, FADI[/B] [I]Toothworks Dental Clinic
Chalan Kiya, Saipan[/I]