News Archive

The safety and benefits of fluoride are well-documented, according to public health officials. Then why do some opponents argue the process of adding fluoride to public drinking water should be stopped? Lynn Short, director of Victoria Public Works, said the city started its fluoride program in 1985, and its levels are monitored by the Texas […]

Ryan Quock serves as vice chair of the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics, as well as associate professor of Restorative Dentistry at the UT Health Science Center at Houston. There he studies fluoride therapies, as well as other components of caries management. Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Trib+Heath: […]

Austin committee members voted to continue fluoridating city water after taking no action on a proposal to remove the added fluoride. The Public Utilities Committee and Health and Human Services Committee considered a resolution from Council Member Don Zimmerman that claimed it is unethical to force residents to consume fluoride and called for the city […]

In April, Fluoride-Free San Marcos submitted a petition calling for voters to decide whether or not the city should continue adding fluoride to its water. “Citizens have the right to petition and change what they’d like to change in the community and have the people vote on it,” the group’s Kathleen O’Connell said. But it […]

Although the San Marcos City Council on Tuesday voted to hold a referendum in November on whether the city can add fluoride to the municipal water supply, the anti-fluoride activists who instigated the vote say they will oppose its passage. Sam Brannon, a member of the group fighting the city over the issue, said the […]

Amid yelps of “you’re murderers” and “you’re hurting the kids,” two Austin City Council committees decided they didn’t buy claims that fluoridating drinking water does little to prevent tooth decay and poses health risks. The council’s Public Utilities Committee and Health and Human Services Committee took no action Wednesday on a resolution calling for the […]

Note from FAN: The only group in Austin opposing fluoridation is Fluoride Free Austin, and, they are doing a great job against tremendous odds. Clean Water Action is a national group with chapters in several states. As far as we can discern, only its New Jersey chapter has actively opposed fluoridation, see it’s anti-water fluoridation […]

Austin officials are set to consider a water fluoridation proposal from a city councilman, who wants the practice to end by December. The city has fluoridated its water for several decades, and public health officials say that it’s one of the primary ways to combat tooth decay, the Austin American-Statesman said. But anti-fluoride activists contend […]

Former Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell tersely ticked off to a crowd of fluoride detractors last year why he wasn’t going to budge: They had no scientific evidence, his own dentist supports adding fluoride to drinking water, and a City Council committee had even “gone to the trouble” of vetting the issue. The council sided with […]

City of San Marcos voters are closer to weighing in on a charter amendment seeking to ban the city’s fluoridation of its water supply. Despite the city’s apparent commitment to disqualify a petition effort seeking this change, state Judicial District Court Judge Bruce Boyer late Friday ordered the city to review the petition signatures and, […]