‘Dental health crisis’ made worse? Health professionals voice concern after move to end fluoridation
After the State College Borough Water Authority voted Thursday to stop adding fluoride to the water, community members — especially those who had advocated for fluoridation — reacted strongly.
SCBWA members were unanimous in their decision, after one member resigned in opposition before the vote took place. The vote came after a subcommittee developed a report on the controversial topic, citing studies linking prenatal fluoride exposure with lower IQ, with SCBWA member Gary Peterson calling it a social justice issue.
“Our customers don’t have a freedom of choice. We’re forcing our customers to drink fluoridated water. And as a member of this authority, I do not think it is the role of our authority to medicate our customers,” he said during Thursday’s meeting.
The SCBWA previously heard from a number of local dentists and medical health professionals who advocated for fluoridation. They said for some, fluoride in the water is the only type of dental prevention people have. If fluoridation were to end, the amount of cavities will increase in some patient populations, and it will impact the young, the old and the medically compromised the most, they argued.
Lisa Davis, director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health at Penn State and chair of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health, lives in Boalsburg and has spoken in support of fluoridation.
“I was not at all surprised, and I was incredibly, incredibly disappointed in their decision,” Davis said in a phone interview with the Centre Daily Times.
Kelly Braun, rural primary care and integration coordinator for Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, said from a community and public health perspective, the decision is “disappointing.” Dental caries, or cavities, are the number one most chronic disease of childhood, she said. But dental disease can impact things beyond the mouth, she said.
“Those with dental caries can have a difficult time eating nutritious foods. Cavities can impact a child’s growth and development, their ability to learn and their ability to learn to speak. Imagine learning to say ‘s’ and ‘t’ sounds without front teeth if they have been lost to dental cavities. Further, adults with dental disease can find it challenging to seek employment,” Braun wrote in an email.
SCBWA serves customers in State College Borough and parts of Benner, College, Harris, Halfmoon, Patton and Ferguson townships.
Laura Dininni, chair of the Ferguson Township Supervisors, said she agreed with the SCBWA’s decision and that other local water authorities do not add fluoride to the water, either.
“I think that ensuring pediatric dental care, as a society, is much more efficient and effective at preventing decay,” Dininni wrote in an email. She wondered if through this discussion, the lack of pediatric dental care in some areas in State College could be elevated.
Some SCBWA members suggested during Thursday’s meeting that they invest and support education and outreach for public oral health programs. Braun said many of those programs are focused on children, as a preventative measure.
“There have been so many public health programs to attempt to reduce the number of children with dental disease. Many of these programs have been quite successful, but none are able to reach as many individuals as community water fluoridation,” Braun wrote. “The board will not find a more cost effective way to positively impact (the) oral health of all residents than with community water fluoridation.”
Centre Volunteers in Medicine serves low income and uninsured patients. Those patients are at greater risk of dental decay. CVIM’s executive director, Cheryl White, said the community is in a dental health crisis, and this decision will make things worse.
“Obviously, we are disappointed in their decision. This is a perfect example of inequality in healthcare since the Authority’s decision will have the most impact on the patients we serve (low income, uninsured). Our community is already in a dental health crisis, and this will only worsen things,” White said in an email.
The State College Borough and the council don’t have authority over the SCBWA, and it’s an independent entity. State College Mayor Ezra Nanes said he knows the dental community is passionate about the value of fluoride in water. For that reason, if he were a board member, he would have voted to continue fluoridation.
“One of my big concerns is that we’re going to stop doing something that may actually cause people who have less access to resources to incur some of the greatest impacts,” Nanes said. “Not everybody has access to dental care, dental care can be very expensive. So I think those are things that I would consider in this type of situation.”
Dentists previously warned that if fluoridation were to end, the wait times and costs at the dentist office will increase. Davis said that it is already a challenge to recruit and retain dentists to provide services to vulnerable populations.
“As someone who has worked in the space of recruitment and retention of all health care providers for the last 25 years, the single one issue is workforce,” Davis said. “And so when we are looking at increasing dental services, and oral health services, whether it’s prevention treatment, or … long term care, if that can be led up here in (SCBWA’s) service delivery area that would be fantastic. But it is not an easy fix.”
The SCBWA will have to modify its operating permit with the state Department of Environmental Protection, which will require a hearing.
This story was originally published July 23, 2022 at 7:59 AM.
