MONTROSE, Colo. (KKCO/KJCT)– The City of Montrose has been without fluoride in their water since 2014. City council is now deciding whether or not to bring it back.
“Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral and helps to strengthen teeth,” said Daniel Drakulich, Montrose Family Dental.
You can’t see fluoride, or taste it, but it can make all the difference, say dentists at Montrose Family Dental.
“You know the people that aren’t coming into the office are the ones affected more by it, that don’t have as good access to care,” said Drakulich.
They say it’s especially important for children’s developing teeth.
“Mostly for the kids, and the kids that don’t have access to care, that fluoride in the water is super beneficial,” said Drakulich.
Since they’ve been without, he’s been recommending alternatives.
“We recommend fluoride varnish treatments at all their cleaning appointments and also for a lot of the kids we will do prescription fluoride,” said Drakulich.
The City of Montrose used to put fluoride in their water until about five years ago.
“The domestic source of the fluoride they were using became unavailable due to Hurricane Katrina and after that, they didn’t rebuild those facilities,” said David Bries, Utilities Manager, City of Montrose.
“Some of us in the community went and voiced our concerns, voiced our opinions and it didn’t carry enough weight, I guess, to keep the fluoride in the water,” said Drakulich.
The city gets its water from Project 7. When Katrina hit, their supply of fluoride dried up and ran out in 2014.
“They would have had to change the type of fluoride that was injected or added into the system or to stop and they decided to stop at that point,” said Bries.
Montrose City council asked David to educate them more on fluoride and its benefits. They are currently deciding whether or not to add it back in.
“I would be very much for it coming back,” said Drakulich.
The city says they’re not sure when they will come up with a decision on whether or not to add fluoride back into the water.
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