The campaign to keep Austin fluoridated

This was an email sent out by the Texas Oral Health Coalition on August 11 – see original
[See FluorideFreeAustin for the other side]

Call for Action

The Texas Oral Health Coalition requests letters of support regarding community water fluoridation to be sent to the Austin Public Utilities Committee as soon as possible.

A resolution to end water fluoridation was introduced during the June 17th Austin Public Utilities Committee (PUC) meeting and after much discussion decided to appoint a panel for further discussion at the next meeting.

Austin Public Utilities Committee Meeting

Austin City Hall

Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 3:00 pm CDT

Agenda:  Water Fluoridation

I was told a representative from each of the following organizations has been invited to participate on this panel.  I do not know who will be participating from these organizations.  We also do not know who will be present to represent the anti-fluoridation’s viewpoint.

Pro-fluoridation panel: 

• Dr. Philip Huang, MD, MPH – Austin Travis Co HHSC Asst Director
• Capitol Area Dental Society
• Texas Dental Association
• St David’s Foundation

Please email letters to PUC members and/or Austin Water Utility staff contact Denise Avery, Denise.avery@austintexas.gov.

Council Member Delia Garza (Chair)
Phone: 512-978-210
Email: http://www.austintexas.gov/email/district2
Council Member Don Zimmerman (Vice-Chair) – Introduced resolution in June to end water fluoridation
Phone: 512-978-2106
Email: http://www.austintexas.gov/email/donzimmerman

Council Member Ann Kitchen
Phone: 512-978-2106
Email:  http://www.austintexas.gov/email/district5

Council Member Ellen Troxclair
Phone: 512-978-2108
Email:  http://www.austintexas.gov/email/district8

Thank you for promoting water fluoridation and the health of our communities by agreeing to write a letter of support.

Beth Stewart, Director
Texas Oral Health Coalition

Forward to Your Friends and Colleagues to join us in supporting Water Fluoridation in Texas.

Visit us on social media to learn more about TxOHC’s water fluoridation support  and follow #FluorideforTX.

Use these quick facts to show the efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness of water fluoridation. For more information and sources please visit Fluoride for Texas or the Campaign for Dental Health.

Fluoridated Water is EFFECTIVE

• Fluoridated water can reduce tooth decay by up to 40%.
• Studies from across the country show that fluoridated water reduces the number of people in a community that have cavities and other oral health problems.  Here are the findings from a few of those studies:

1.  A 2010 study in New York found that low-income residents in less fluoridated counties needed 33% more fillings, root canals and extractions than those in counties where fluoridated water was common.
2. An Alaskan study released in 2011 shows that children living in non-fluoridated areas had a 32% higher rate of decayed, missing or filled teeth than children in fluoridated communities.
3. The author of a 2010 fluoridation study concluded that the research confirms that “the most effective source of fluoride” is water fluoridation.

Fluoridated Water SAVES MONEY

• Every $1 invested in fluoridated water saves $38 in dental costs.
• Fluoridated water is 70 times cheaper than fluoride supplements, 1/2 the cost of fluoride rinse, and cheaper than varnishes and gels.
• National savings from water fluoridation: $3.84 billion each year as estimated by scientists who testified before Congress in 1995.
• Texas confirmed that the state saved $24 per child, per year in Medicaid expenditures for dental care because of fluoridated water.

Fluoridated Water is SAFE

• Every U.S. Surgeon General for the last forty years has endorsed water fluoridation.
• “Children who drink fluoridated water as their teeth grow will have stronger, more decay resistant teeth over their lifetime. A 2010 study confirmed that the fluoridated water consumed as a young child makes the loss of teeth (due to decay) less likely 40 or 50 years later when that child is a middle-aged adult.”
• The National Cancer Institute has stated: “Many studies, in both humans and animals, have shown no association between fluoridated water and risk for cancer,” and a panel of the National Research Council found no convincing evidence of a causal link between fluoridation and cancer.
• A leading spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that ” 60 years of research has shown that there’s no persuasive evidence that points to any harm from community water fluoridation.”