Response to: Dentists cant stop fluoride decision – Nov. 17

I am dismayed over the criticism that Waterloo dentists did not do enough to educate the public about the benefits of water fluoridation.

The Waterloo-Wellington Dental Society, the regional chapter of the Ontario Dental Association, worked diligently to bring the facts on fluoridation to the citizens of Waterloo. We participated in a televised forum at the request of Rogers TV. We granted interviews to local media and published advertisements in the papers. We invited the public to an information night featuring the chief dental officer of Health Canada. Our local members became involved not only as dentists, but as concerned members of their community.

If regional council has the power to start and stop fluoridation, why do they continue to support a vote which does not represent their entire constituency and now stands to put their communitys oral health care at risk?

I ask the Region of Waterloo to look to the research of more than 90 national and international medical and scientific organizations and follow the recommendations of their own public health unit that support water fluoridation, in the right amount, as a safe and effective public health measure. I ask them additionally to exercise their power, for the good of the many, and keep fluoride in the water.

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