I urge Durango city residents to continue augmenting naturally occurring levels of fluoride in our city water by voting against ballot issue 1A, which would remove fluoride from our drinking water.
Recent arguments in favor of 1A have focused on the devastating effects of excess fluoride, and the ideological argument that we should not be exposed to anything in our water we do not explicitly ask for. Both are valid points.
Luckily, we live in a country where scientists, who base their conclusions on evidence, still have a voice. They are the ones that drive the recommendations for levels of fluoride in drinking water, which are way below anything that can cause the toxicity that has been highlighted in several recent letters.
Scientists have accumulated a vast amount of data demonstrating that children growing up without fluoride in their water have extremely high levels of dental caries and periodontal disease — both of which have potentially wide-ranging and devastating effects on overall health.
If we as a community vote fluoride out of our water source, it is likely that most of the children of parents reading this will be fine — it is easy enough to buy fluoridated toothpaste and apply it directly to their teeth.
But what about the other kids in our community who do not have parents diligently reading toothpaste labels and enforcing tooth brushing twice a day?
As anyone who has spent substantial time in rural communities that lack water fluoridation can attest, many of those kids can look forward to a future of tooth decay, tooth loss, and chronic infection.
I believe our kids deserve better — please vote against 1A to ensure that all children in our community, regardless of their access to dental care, can grow up with healthy teeth.
Amy Benson
Durango
