Excerpt:

Voters overwhelmingly defeated an initiative to add fluoride to the town’s water, a rebuff to a controversial order issued by the board of health.

In a vote of 700-253 with 16 blanks, the fluoride initiative lost, despite the strong backing of dental and health professionals on the Island.

The town’s board of health voted to add fluoride, prompting a controversy over the decision and the process used to issue that order. The town’s water commission opposed the move. Ultimately, a petition was circulated to bring the fluoride issue to a townwide vote culminating in Thursday’s no vote.

Some 969 of the town’s 3,627 registered voters went to the polls or 26 percent…

Deb Mello Orazem, a retired Edgartown School teacher, advocaties for article 6 outside the polls in Edgartown. Mello Orazem is married to a dentist, and said, “You have to look at all the research at trust the experts.” — Gabrielle Mannino

*Read the full original article online at https://www.mvtimes.com/2018/04/12/fluoride-loses-smadbeck-returned-office/

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