USA - Seventeen communities receive grants to support water fluoridation

Seventeen U.S. communities are getting financial assistance to install or continue water fluoridation programs thanks to financial support from The National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the groups announced earlier this year.

The grants, totaling more than $365,000, are going to communities that are currently installing new or replacing aging fluoridation equipment, according to the National Association of County and City Health Officials, or NACCHO. Projects in each community are scheduled to be completed by June 30.

The grantees include the City of Burnsville, Minnesota; Oldham County Water District, Kentucky; Town of Forest City, North Carolina; Glacial Lakes Sanitary Sewer and Water District, Minnesota; City of Parsons, Kansas; City of West Liberty, Kentucky; Auburn Water District, City of Lewiston Water Division, Maine; City of South Bend, Washington; City of Barre, Vermont; Morehead Utility Plant Board, Kentucky; Sterling Water and Sewer, Kentucky; Bellows Falls Water Department, Vermont; Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; Town of Cathlamet, Washington; City of LaSalle, Minnesota; West Virginia Oral Health Coalition; and the City of Fairbury, Illinois.
 
The grants account for a second round of funding of this kind from NACCHO and the CDC. The groups began supporting fluoridation initiatives in January 2017 with a pilot program, offering funding and technical assistance to local communities. Six grantees were awarded funding and all completed their projects by June 2017.

For more information on this program, visit http://essentialelements.naccho.org/archives/9600. 

The ADA supports the fluoridation of community water supplies as an effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay. Studies prove water fluoridation continues to be effective in reducing dental decay by at least 25 percent in children and adults, even in the of era widespread availability of fluoride from other sources, such as fluoride toothpaste.