Forum to discuss water fluoridation
Posted Oct 7, 2010 02:21:57 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A third public information session on the issue of water fluoridation is scheduled for tonight in Waterloo. The session will run from 7:00-8:30 PM at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
Waterloo residents, as well as some residents of Woolwich Township and Kitchener, will be asked a referendum question at the municipal election on October 25th — “Should the Region of Waterloo fluoridate your municipal water?” Yes or No.
Kitchener dentist Dr. Harry Hoediono, incoming president of the Ontario Dental Association, says the answer is a simple one.
“Dental cavities are the most common chronic disease in children aged 5-17,” he insists. “They (cavities) account for one of the leading causes of absenteeism in schools. If we’re using municipal water that’s fluoridated at the optimal level, we have the perfect preventative tool to decrease these numbers.”
Hoediono will not be attending tonight’s forum in Waterloo. Speakers include Dr. Paul Connett and Heather Gingerich.
Hoediono cites scheduling difficulties as the reason for his, and the Ontario Dental Association’s, absence. But he remains vocal in his support for community water fluoridation.
“For over 65 years, water fluoridation in the right amount, is safe and effective. It’s one of the greatest preventative tools that we have,” Hoediono says in an interview with 570 News.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has hailed water fluoridation as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.
Hoediono says the issue has been so divisive that it’s been difficult to share a clear message. He encourages people to talk to their dentists about the benefits of water fluoridation.
Region of Waterloo Public Health supports water fluoridation for the prevention of tooth decay, calling it “a cost-effective way to promote oral health for everyone in a community, regardless of their income.”
The statement from Public Health goes on to say that “the weight of scientific evidence continues to confirm that water fluoridation is a safe and effective public health measure.
The vote this month will be the third referendum on the issue, and the first since 1982.
Speakers at tonight’s forum in Waterloo represent the anti-fluoridation side of the issue. The pro-fluoridation side have scheduled an event of their own for Thursday, October 21st at RIM Park.
