Is it a poison or a cheap and safe way to help battle tooth decay? City Council was in a fluoride debate Monday night as Shaun Francis Drake made a presentation on why fluoride should be removed from our drinking water.
Fluoride is added to the water in most major cities to help with healthy teeth, but the local residents said it hasn’t helped his kids who were recently told by their dentist that they had cavities. That’s what got him looking deeper into whether or not fluoride works.
“Some of the studies that have been done say that it actually accelerates the decay of the tooth at an accelerated rate, it could cause cancer and other medical related stuff.”
Drake pointed to Regina, a community that does not add fluoride to their water and said if he had the money, he would like to do a study comparing Moose Jaw to Regina when it comes to teeth and the affects of fluoride.
The concerned citizen also pointed out that taking fluoride out of the water would save money in the budget each year. Later in the debate, it was revealed that fluorination costs about $15,000 a year for Moose Jaw.
Also on hand for the debate on fluoride was Dr. Mark Vooght, Medical Health Officer for the Five Hills Health Region. He quickly pointed out that council needs to be cautious when reading the data presented in Mr. Drake’s report. “He quotes Dr. Yiamoyiannis as a champion. He was an American physician who died in 2000 at the age of 58. This is the same person that thought immunizing children was an abomination and would lead to AIDS.”
Vooght believes adding fluoride is one of the best things to happen to the civilized world, putting it up there with water treatment, sanitation services and vaccination.
Council simply received and filed the letter from Drake, meaning there will still be fluoride in our water.
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