Before my retirement, I had the privilege of working for over 20 years as a public health dentist providing direct clinical care and health promotion and disease prevention training for Native American communities across the U.S.
During that time, it was markedly clear which locations were benefitting from an optimally fluoridated water source and those that, unfortunately, we’re not.
The cornerstone of our oral health programs centered on implementation of community fluoridation. Every location I worked with that had optimal, trace fluoride levels in the water showed vastly improved dental health, without exception. This was particularly evident in the dental health of the children of those communities.
The one critical aspect in regard to the benefits of fluoride that is often misstated by those opposing fluoridation is the use of topical fluorides. They suggest to use a mouthrinse, toothpaste, or see the dentist for those treatments, but the fluoride ion must be incorporated into the developing tooth shell to have the greatest effect.
Enamel that forms with a fluoride rather than calcium base has a significantly lower solubility when attacked by the bacterial acids that cause decay.
Wherever my family lived during my career, I made sure my children had either fluoridated water or vitamins with trace fluoride, from infancy. To date, neither one (now ages 30 and 26) have ever had a cavity. If only I had grown up in a community with fluoridation, I might not have had to endure a lifetime of fillings and their ongoing replacements.
We are all fortunate to live in a community that so values individual health, as well as the well-being of our neighbors. I directly saw the positive benefits of fluoridation year after year and in community after community for over two decades. It works and it benefits from childhood when used at the trace levels recommended by countless health agencies.
To all city voters: Please continue to provide the children and adults of our community with a lifetime of improved oral health. Please vote to continue the fluoridation of our water here in Durango.
Larry M. Keil, DDS
Durango
