Eau Claire dentists say they have noticed over time definite improvements of people who drink fluoridated water.

However, the City of Eau Claire is the only municipality in the county to put fluoride in its water.

The myth that fluoride is bad for you is a thing of the past according to the Eau Claire City-County Health Department.

“Fluoride has been very studied, it’s a natural mineral, it exists in nature,” said Lieske Giese the Eau Claire City-County Health Director. “We know from these very extensive studies that its safe at the levels that are provided in community water supplies.”

But the City of Eau Claire is the only one in Eau Claire County that puts fluoride in its water: 0.7 mg to the liter to be exact.

“I think it’s really important to have the fluoride in the water,” said Becky Noland of Eau Claire. “I think it really helps the protection against cavities, especially for young children.”

And dentists agree, saying they’ve noticed over time, definite improvements of people who drink fluoridated water.

“The main reason we encourage fluoride is cavity protection,” explained Dr. Derek Rognlien, a dentist at Menomonie Street Dental in Eau Claire. “Some data has shown it can decrease cavities as much as 40 percent when you incorporate fluoride into the water.”

Fluoridated water can also help save you money in the future; and community members like Franci Koehn of Eau Claire said she can’t event taste the difference.

“We know that there’s probably a $38 benefit to every dollar we spend on fluoridation; and that’s really in safe costs of people that have problems with teeth down the road.” Giese added. “So its very cost effective, very simple, people don’t have to think twice about it and it’s something that really makes a difference for kids down the road.”
“Our recommendation would be to include fluoride in the community drinking water, we feel that it does help prevent dental carries,” added Dr. Rognlien.

If you’re interested in finding out if the water you drink has fluoride in it, click the link.