Health board supports fluoridation across Ontario

By Denis Langlois, Sun Times, Owen Sound

The local board of health has directed Dr. Hazel Lynn to support a motion next month that will call on the province to require that all municipal drinking water systems in Ontario contain Health Canada-recommended levels of fluoride.

The resolution, sponsored by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, is to be debated and voted on at an Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) annual general meeting June 3 in Richmond Hill.

Chatsworth Mayor Bob Pringle, a Grey County representative on the Grey-Bruce board of health, said reputable scientific studies show that water fluoridation is a safe and effective way to prevent tooth decay.

“The science supports fluoridation and we have to, as a board, support the science,” he said during the board meeting at the Grey Bruce Health Unit in Owen Sound.

The motion directs alPHa to ask the provincial government to amend its Safe Drinking Water Act to mandate the fluoridation of all municipal water systems, when source-water levels are below the Health Canada recommended level of 0.7 milligrams per litre, to prevent dental caries.

It also calls on the province to provide both the funding and technical support to municipalities required for community water fluoridation.

Lynn, Grey-Bruce’s medical officer of health, is a voting member of alPHa, the non-profit association that represents public health units in Ontario. She plans to attend the AGM.

Lynn said she supports province-wide water fluoridation.

“Many communities, especially those with kids with very bad teeth, if they look at the literature realize that they could help these kids tremendously with very little cost,” she said.

“I think most people that look at it without a pre-formed belief system would say, of course we want fluoride, we want better teeth.”

Lynn presented seven motions to the board of health Friday that alPHa members will be asked to vote on next month. They include resolutions to request that Health Canada regulate the manufacturing of e-cigarettes and study their long-term health effects as well as to call on the province to ensure that all new provincially and municipally funded multi-unit dwellings are designated smoke-free.

The board directed Lynn to support all seven motions at the AGM.

Water fluoridation has become a highly controversial topic in many communities.

Public health agencies and most dentists say it is an effective way to prevent cavities.

Opponents, on the other hand, say water fluoridation is an outdated and ineffective practice that poses a threat to human health and should not be forced on people.

Owen Sound, which has been adding fluoride to its drinking water since 1965, will be holding a plebiscite as part of the Oct. 27 municipal election that will ask voters if they support discontinuing water fluoridation in the city.

The Grey-Bruce board of health already voted this spring to support the Simcoe Muskoka health unit’s motion, but Lynn said it will have more “oomph” if it is supported by all health units through alPHa.

Emotive picture but parents need education like Child Smile  not fluoridation.