By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
At its March 23 meeting, Elkhorn’s Municipal Services and Utilities Committee took a brief look at fluoridation of the city’s water.
The city previously added fluoride to the water, though with the age of the treatment plants the city has, Alderman Gary Payson, Sr., said the city determined not to replace the equipment at the Centralia plant.
Alyssa Ricketts, southeastern Wisconsin community water fluoridation specialist and Wisconsin Oral Health Coalition project manager, came to the meeting to briefly present the case to the committee.
Ricketts said though dental health has improved in Wisconsin, recent data shows that 53 percent of Wisconsin third graders have experienced tooth decay at one point or another, something that if left untreated can alter a person’s ability to eat, speak and even sleep.
“In Wisconsin, we clearly do not want a 12-year-old and his or her family member every having to contemplate pulling a tooth, much less think about potentially losing his or her life,” she said, noting the case of a young boy who died in 2007 from a bad tooth infection that spread to his brain.
Adjusting the natural fluoride levels to the recommended level for optimal dental health, though while small – only .7 parts per million – Ricketts said can have a tremendous effect on dental health. In Wisconsin, Ricketts said about 90 percent of residents have the recommended amount of fluoride in their water, and only 25 to 49 percent of Walworth County residents.
Ricketts said frequent contact with low levels of fluoride throughout each day of a person’s life can help prevent tooth decay and having it in the water provides it daily without added expenses – such as fluoride toothpastes or varnishes – to residents.
Ricketts said while budgets are tight, it is one of the few health strategies proven to save more money than it costs and would save both the city and its taxpayers money in the long run, noting for every dollar spent in water fluoridation, there are savings of up to $38 in treatment costs.
Ricketts said community water fluoridation is both safe and effective, endorsed by both the Center of Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, for example.
Ricketts said as the city is working towards a new treatment plant, a grant is available that would cover the cost of new fluoridation equipment.
Utilities Director John Murphy said it’s the city’s plan to build a fluoride injection point into the new facility and the city still has the old equipment at the Lakeland plant.
“We’re going to make provisions for it if you decide to re-enact the fluoridation,” he said.
