During Portland’s heated fluoride debate, Florida’s Clearwater has decided to begin fluoridating its water again. Through grassroot education, political lectures, and a lot of opinion based conjecture, they decided to reject the votes of the two county commissioners. The commission had to listen through three hours of public testimony for and against fluoridating- the goal to inform the public on the subject matter.
“The 6-1 vote by the commissioners to put fluoride back into the Pinellas County water system demonstrates the effectiveness of an organized effort by the dental community and the many organizations that collaborated with us,” said Dr. Terry L. Buckenheimer, ADA 17th District trustee and a Tampa area dentist. After the vote, local dentists and dental societies and other pro-fluoridation individuals and groups began working at the grassroots level to educate policymakers and residents about the benefits of fluoridation.
Dentists typically do not discuss political issues with their patients, but the debate in Florida forced them to discuss the safety and effectiveness of the fluoridation. The local dentists had become major supporters of the local fluoride movement. They declared the entire issue to be a win- especially for the below poverty level workers who would be unable to afford dental care. It introduces the idea… of Portland has a high enough below poverty level class, then perhaps going in that direction would not be a bad idea. I went online to check the averages…
Portland: 20.3%
Whole state: 19.0%
1 in 5 people is below the National Poverty Levels. The national average of below poverty levels is 12.2%.
Reference.
With a much higher below poverty level then the national average, when it would come to assisting the poor’s dental needs it would be in our best interest to allow fluoride in the drinking water.