Excerpts from the Oral Health Report
PAGE 5
Children in Madison County consume a significantly higher proportion of fluoride tablets then children in the state (Table 1).
This is most likely due to the fact that 32 percent of the county’s population is served by individual/private water sources (e.g., wells), and of the population on public water supply, 52 percent is served by municipal water sys-tems that are not fluoridated. NaTionally, children living in communities with fluoridated tap water have fewer cavities than children whose water is not fluoridated.8
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Community water service in Madison County varies by location. Approximately 64 percent of the county’s population (46,080 people) is served by community water systems. The remaining 36 percent of the population (25,920) is served by individual/private water sources (wells); this compares to 19 percent of the New York State population served by private water sources.102
Only 48 percent of Madison County’s population is served by community water systems with optimally fluoridated water, with the remaining 52% of the population served by community water systems that are not provided with fluoridated water. For comparison, the percent of the NYS population served by optimally fluoridated community water systems is 71.1 percent; excluding NYC, it drops to 46.9 percent.102
Table 3 lists community water systems serving Madison County and whether or not the systems are optimally fluoridated. Unfortunately there is no data for the Towns of Lennox and Sullivan and the Villages of Canastota and Chittenango, who are served by the Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) as their numbers are included under Onondaga County by the NYSDOH. Regardless, the OCWA system serving these communities is fluoridated.
In the northern portion of Madison County, drinking water is supplied primarily by the Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) and the City of Oneida. The City of Oneida’s inner district is completely served by their water district. The outer district relies on both public and private supplies. The villages are almost completely served by OCWA while the surrounding towns have be-tween 6 to 72 percent of their housing units served by private wells.
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SEE Figure 7. Naturally Occurring Fluoride levels in Individual Water Systems Madison County, 2019
In 2018, water from seventy-four (74) individual waters systems (e.g., wells) throughout Madison County were tested for fluoride (Figure 7). Water samples collected along the western border and at the northeast corner of the county demonstrated the highest levels of fluoride (0.31 to 1.7 mg/l). Of those with the highest levels, four exceed the optimal level for prevention of decay (0.7 milligrams/liter), with two others (0.66 and 0.61 mg/l) near optimal level. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently has a non-enforceable recommended guideline for fluoride of 2.0 mg/L that is set to protect against dental fluorosis. If a home is served by a water system that has fluoride levels exceeding this recommended guideline, EPA recommends that children 8 years and younger be provided with alternative sources of drinking water. None of the samples tested exceeded the 2.0 mg/l guideline.104
See: Table 3: Community Public water systems in Madison County and their fluoridation status
References cited above:
8. Community Preventive Services Task Force. Preventing Dental Caries: Community Water Fluoridation website. http://www.thecommunityguide.org/oral/fluoridation.html. Accessed February 5, 2019.
102. New York State Department of Health, Safe Drinking Water Information System data as of February 2017.
104.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Questions and Answers on Fluoride. Office of Water (4606M) EPA 815-F-11-001, January 2011.
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