The Regional Health Awareness Board announced Friday that the Corpus Christi water supply currently does not have fluoride supplementation in it, and hasn’t for some time.Now, local dentists and doctors are concerned. Kiii News Reporter Briana Whitney looked into the situation and came back with more of what you need to know.

The City says there is a small amount of natural occuring fluoride, but local doctors are saying that they and other dentists in the area did not know the supplementation had stopped, and that’s detrimental to children under the age of 16.

The reason the City of Corpus Christi does not have the supplementation is because the machine that put it into the water broke over two years ago, and hasn’t been fixed.

Dr. Arnold Cuellar, a local dentist and part of the Regional Health Awareness Board, says adding fluoride supplementation can reduce your children’s risk of tooth decay by 25-percent. Local health authorities say that had dentists and doctors known about the lack of supplementation, they would have been prescribing fluoride to children ages six months to 16 years old, the critical ages to build strong teeth.

Even though toothpastes and mouthwash may say they contain fluoride, it is not enough to have the necessary protection.

Dentists and pediatricians are now being advised to make those prescriptions for young children.

This is only affecting the City of Corpus Christi. Both San Patricio County and Robstown provide fluoride supplementation.