OPINION: Water fluoridation…It’s safe. It’s cheap. It works.

I have been a pediatric dentist in the Hastings and Grand Island areas for the past nine years.   I have been overwhelmed with the amount of dental disease that I have observed in our children.  I see children from both fluoridated and unfluoridated communities.  Those who have access to fluoride in the water have much less tooth decay and their parents spend less for dental care.


Every day I see children that are required have their dental treatment completed under general anesthesia due to the severity of the disease, their young age, or their inability to sit for dental treatment.  The costs to Medicaid (and therefore tax payers) can be as much as $4000 per child.  Families without dental insurance have difficulty getting dental treatment.  These children live in pain and have difficulty eating.  Approximately 50 million school hours are lost each year for dental related reasons.


Water fluoridation is considered by the CDC to be one of the ten greatest public health successes of the 20th century.  It ranks up there with childhood immunizations and car seat safety.  It is endorsed by every mainstream medical, dental, and public health organization locally, statewide, nationally, and internationally.  For every $1 invested in water fluoridation, $38 is saved in dental treatment.


There is 50 years worth of scientific research showing solid support for it's safety and efficacy.  Water fluoridation is safe, it's cheap, and it works!


---

Jessica Meeske, D.D.S., M.S., has a dental pracice iwth offices in Hasitngs and Grand Island. She founded and is clinical director of the Sunrisa Dental Project, which provides basic dental services for underserved children.