As more and more communities choose to ditch fluoride from their drinking water, the Town of St. Paul’s water treatment plant manager asked council to revisit the idea of removing fluoride from its water.
Water from the North Saskatchewan River is pumped into Lac St. Cyr for drinking purposes, with the lake already containing fluoride in small quantities, said Bert Pruneau, but he pointed out to council, “We are adding artificial fluoride to the water.” This comes at a cost of $6,000 to $7,000 a year and risks from dealing with the toxic chemical.
Coun. Dwight Wiebe pointed out that the practice of fluoridation began to prevent tooth decay, particularly for children.
Pruneau agreed, and from a personal note, added, “As a kid, brushing teeth wasn’t really a priority.”
However, detractors of fluoridation question the wisdom of excessive fluoride ingestion and whether this is toxic to humans. Several North American municipalities are moving away from the practice including Albertan municipalities such as Calgary and Okotoks. Among fluoride supporters however, this has led to a blowback, as Calgary dentists have reported an increase in tooth decay since fluoride was removed from the city’s water in 2011.
Local dentist Amil Shapka noted the issue is a “real hot button topic because there’s active lobbies against it in a number of communities across North America.”
Fluoride in drinking water is absorbed into teeth and bone, he notes, and information from MyHealth Alberta states that fluoride helps rebuild and strengthen tooth enamel, protecting teeth from acid that attacks the enamel.
Health Canada, Alberta Health Services and the Alberta Dental Association & College all support the practice of fluoridation, but Shapka notes that there are studies both supporting and opposing the practice of fluoridation, while other studies find no negative or positive impacts from fluoridated water.
Shapka noted that about a decade ago, the dental community began to feel kids were getting too much fluoride, through their toothpaste, through drinking water, and through food and drinks prepared with fluoride-added water. Well-water that dentists once used to recommend being supplemented with fluoride now is no longer supplemented, and recommended toothpaste usage for children is a pea size or smaller.
Coun. Edna Gervais said that personally, she was not in favour of adding fluoride to water, but the decision should be up to town residents.
Council agreed to survey residents to find out their take on the subject, using social media, and launched a Facebook poll on their page. Within two days of being up, several people were responding to the link, with 77 per cent of polled participants saying the Town of St. Paul should not add fluoride to its water.
For those interested in voting, the poll will be up until Aug. 7 at 4 p.m. on the town’s Facebook page, while the St. Paul Journal will also poll on this issue at its website, www.spjournal.com.
