By Donna Westfall – February 9, 2017 –Credit to The Recorder – In Greenfield, Massachusetts only the Board of Health has the authority to authorize community fluoridation. The Board has already rejected fluoridation 3 times; 1968, 1976 and 1996.
In October 2016, a dental hygienist found significant amounts of tooth decay and oral health problems in young school children. Since then the Board has held two public meetings to gather input. Mostly residents and some business owners came out in force to express:
- a 15% reduction in tooth decay was an “underwhelming” statistic and not reason enough to fluoridate the community.
- Two local organic food manufacturers expressed concerns about having to invest tens of thousands of dollars in reverse osmosis equipment to take the fluoride of their products.
- For one Board member, the $750,000 cost changed his mind.
Before the meeting was over the pro-fluoride side brought out the same old arguments we heard so often in Crescent City. The CEO of the Community Health Center parroted these words: water fluoridation gets a big return on investment, contending every dollar spent on community fluoridation winds up saving an average of $38 in dental costs. He needs to do his homework.
