Well, now, maybe the Texarkanas are not the bastions of bumpkinism people thought when we sank our teeth into the fluoride debate. Time, tests and tainted teeth tell the tale of the wisdom of voter sooth-daying, or tooth-saying.

From time to time, people have mounted campaigns to add fluoridation to the cities’ water supply. A few years ago, the fight became so fierce it ended in public referenda. The voters said no, a decision that, in some quarters, labeled us as unenlightened, if not primitive.

Now comes the federal government…

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