Members of the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Board of Health voted in favour of asking Kingston city council to examine fluoridation for the city’s water, following a dramatic increase in tooth decay in area children.

The board passed a motion in favour of the request during its regular meeting on Wednesday. It also opted to share the results of a recent community survey that examined public opinion among Kingston residents about the potential for fluoridating the city’s water.

Alison Bradshaw, a public health promoter on local public health’s dental and vision team, presented the survey findings and area tooth decay statistics with the board during the meeting on Wednesday.

She pointed out that school dental screening results in 2023 showed a 60 per cent increase in tooth decay among kindergarten children in the region since 2019.

The instance of tooth decay among Kingston region children is higher than neighbouring health unit regions, with Hastings Prince Edward Health reporting an eight per cent increase in kindergarteners’ tooth decay and Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit a 25 per cent increase in the same population.

Bradshaw said tooth decay is a serious and prevalent problem that, when left untreated, affects children’s behaviour and quality of life.

“We have Canadian data showing that it is more common than asthma, obesity and diabetes,” she told the board. “So it’s important for us to discuss it and raise awareness of how to prevent it.”

Bradshaw said that while the information focused on local statistics among the pediatric population, 20 per cent of adults nationally experience tooth decay.

A multi-layered prevention approach — including promoting health habits and regular dental visits — should include community water fluoridation, Bradshaw said, something that she said has been statistically shown to lower tooth decay in other communities.

In discussing the public opinion survey, which was conducted in December 2023 among a random sample of 400 adults in the city, Bradshaw said that only 24 per cent of residents knew that Kingston’s municipal water was not fluoridated, with 38 per cent believing that Kingston’s water was fluoridated.

The survey found that 19 per cent of residents were opposed to community water fluoridation.

“Most Ontario residents do have access to fluoridated water,” Bradshaw said, pointing to Ottawa, Sudbury, London, Hamilton, Toronto and the GTA, and other cities.

Neighbouring communities Picton, Brockville, Smiths Falls, Perth and Carleton Place also fluoridate their water, Bradshaw said.

She also spoke about the city of Windsor, which decided to stop fluoridating its water in 2013 and by 2018 saw a 51 per cent increase in tooth decay. That city decided to reimplement its fluoridation program in 2018, and by 2022 had established the infrastructure necessary.

In its letter to Kingston city council, addressed to Mayor Bryan Paterson, the board of health asked the city to “resume their work on exploring the feasibility of community water fluoridation, which was paused in March 2020, to reduce tooth decay for all Kingston residents through this equitable, population-based prevention measure.”

“We have consistent evidence that community water fluoridation continues to reduce tooth decay by at least 25 per cent in both children and adults,” Bradshaw told the board. “There’s no change in behaviour needed, and it’s accessible to everyone. It’s universal and equitable, it’s safe.”

Original article online at: https://www.thewhig.com/news/board-of-health-asks-kingston-city-council-to-consider-water-fluoridation