Canada - Windsor to put fluoride back into the water after council vote

After a five-year moratorium, Windsor will be seeing fluoride in the water again.

City council voted 8-3 in favour of the reintroduction of fluoride. Back in 2013, council voted 8-3 to take it out after more than 50 years of water fluoridation.

The issue was a controversial one with 16 delegates lined up to speak, and 59 emails received by the city clerk ahead of the meeting. The debate went on for hours.

One of the delegates was Dr. Wajid Ahmed, acting medical officer of health with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. According to the Oral Health 2018 report released by the health unit, the percentage of children with tooth decay or requiring urgent care has increased by 51 per cent in 2016-17 compared to 2011-12.

However, Mayor Drew Dilkens, who voted to have fluoride taken out five years ago did not change his stance. He joined Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis and Ward 5 Coun. Ed Sleiman in casting dissenting votes.

"Fluoride is one tool for good oral health, we all know that, but it's not the only tool," Dilkens said before the meeting.

Dilkens said fluoridated toothpaste is the "number-one thing" people can use to protect their teeth. He also suggested Healthy Smiles, the provincial program for low-income families to send their kids to receive free dental care.

However, Joyce Zuk, executive director of Family Services Windsor-Essex doesn't agree that toothpaste is enough. 

She said requests for dental assistance at the organization have gone up by 300 per cent from 2014 to 2018. 

"I'm not trained in science," said Zuk. "When we don't know the answer, we look to our experts to provide us with an answer. And in this case, our experts are the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit."..................................