Even though he’s on vacation this week, leaving his staff to field the hundreds of calls and emails that have been flooding city council offices since the Oregonian broke news of a serious political push to fluoridate Portland’s water, Commissioner Nick Fish has decided to weigh in on the incredibly contentious issue.

In a statement released today, Fish joins pro-fluoride frontman Randy Leonard in blessing the proposal—putting the idea tantalizingly within reach of the three-vote majority it needs to pass.

Fluoridation is supported by a broad coalition of public health, medical, and community-based organizations. It’s a safe, cost-effective and common sense approach to protecting public health. In fact, Portland is one of the last cities of our size that doesn’t fluoridate its drinking water….

It’s time for Portland to join the majority of cities across the nation and fluoridate our water. When this issue comes to Council, I will vote to protect the basic health of all our children.

Who might join Fish and Leonard? Mayor Sam Adams’ office told the O this morning that the mayor hasn’t yet made up his mind. And Amanda Fritz and Dan Saltzman are also both on vacation, but as the O also notes, it’s plausible that both are inclined to also go along with it. One question that could trip up the political push is whether to have the council say yes—or to send it to the public for a vote that could wind up failing. Like every other public referendum on fluoride in our water.

Separately, in an interview today with the Mercury, incoming city commissioner Steve Novick announced his support for a final city council vote, calling fluoride safe and effective and boon to the dental health of low-income Portlanders.

“The council should vote to implement it,” Novick told me, saying the city and state in the midst of a “dental health crisis.”

Asked if the council should let the voters weigh in—a move, if the measure passed, that lend more legitimacy than if the council had to step in over the heads of some very agitated foes—Novick said this wasn’t a case where the council ought to “punt to voters.”

Says Novick, who won’t take office until January: “You do your job.”

Denis C. Theriault is the Portland Mercury's News Editor. He writes stories about City Hall and the Portland Police Bureau, focusing on issues like homelessness, police oversight, insider politics, and...

22 replies on “Looks Like We’ll Be Getting Fluoride in Our Water; Fish and Novick Both Like It”

  1. Maybe some of those people who commented on Alison’s review of “House of Numbers” could offer their opinion on water fluoridation.

  2. The fluoridationists are misleading the Portland Councillors. There are dental health crises occurring in all fluoridated cities, states and countries and fluoride in the water is no help. In fact, 60% of US adolescents are fluoride overdosed and are affected with dental fluorosis (discolored teeth) Yet 50% of them still have tooth decay.

    As fluoridation rates increased, so did tooth decay rates. Fluoridation was supposed to put dentists out of business. Instead more dental schools are opening, and more dental professionals are being created.

    The crisis exists because most dentists won’t treat low income people and lobby against any other viable groups doing so such as dental therapists.

  4. This is probably great news public health-wise but… beer. What about Portland’s beer that uses fluoride-free water? This is a concern of mine.

  5. Maybe I ought to know this, Right Reverend, but the concern you’re articulating is that our locally brewed beer might taste different if the water is fluoridated? I guess it’s like the bagel makers in Florida (or are they pizza makers?) who add minerals to the water to replicate the feeling and flavor of NY-style fare.

  6. Why don’t they put the money to push fluoride into our water into low income dental clInics. I don’t want fluoride in my water, I don’t care about the conspiracy theories, I just don’t fucking want it. I choose to brush my teeth, I want a choice with my water. This is going to help increase bottled water consumption, britta filters, waste etc. Fuck you city council

  8. There are very few issues where the benefit is so clear and the risk so absent as finally bringing a major impacter of dental healthcare to Portland.

    Perhaps we are all expecting opposition to come in the “tin hat” variety, but I suspect individual rights will be behind what little there is. FreddieMac has this nail on the head and I side with his/her sentiment in general; I’m not a fan of gov making choices for all that I am perfectly capable of making myself.

    In this case however, nature is calling the shots. Fluoride is a naturally occurring ion in drinking water. There are locations where cities have to install *de-fluoridization* systems because fluoride content from the source is too (damn) high.

    That fluoride levels have an impact on dental health at all was one of those serendipitous discoveries: why do cities x,y, and z have such lower tooth decay than towns a,b, and c? Ah ha! a,b,c water sources don’t have natural fluoride.

    While I share FreddiMac’s (inferred) libertarian streak, I don’t see adjusting the level of fluoride in the water as any different than asking my municipality to adjust the level of salmon poop coming out of my tap (to very close to zero, please).

    Add in the fact that the 9 year old living in abject poverty without responsible or financially stable parents taking her into Dr. Driller every year has a much better chance of not having his teeth all rot out with fluoridation in place, and I’m more than OK telling my local government to act.

  12. The anti-fluoridation crowd has been mocked for over 50 years, and rightfully so for most of that time. Until recently. Though proponents would like everything to still think this, it isn’t a Dr. Strangelove-type conspiracy any longer. It has actual scientific backing. This is the one thing flouridation proponents have always claimed doesn’t exist. But, it does.

    From that conspiracy-theory rag the Los Angeles Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace…

  13. It is unbelievable to think that Portland would spend 5 million dollars to install fluoridation and $600,000 each and every year for purchasing the toxic fluoride chemical.
    The city of Portland should do the following:
    Purchase one tanker truck of this toxic waste fluoride (Hexafluorosilicic acid, which is waste material flushed directly from industrial smokestacks) and instead of putting it in drinking water, park the truck at city hall and give out fluoride free to anyone who wants it. When 99 1/2% of this poison is no longer wasted down the drain in showers, toilets, dishwashers, etc., one truck would probably last 5 to 10 years or more.
    Then use all of the $ millions in savings to help the community.

  14. Wanna know something? I went to the dentist yesterday after NOT using the prescription fluoride toothpaste she wanted me to take for 5 months. Prior to that I had used the fluoride paste for a year & a half in order to build enamel strength on a couple of my molars. During that 1 1/2 years no real improvement happened. My wife had read up on fluoride & it’s potential dangers & like many folks, I thought it was a load of crap. For shits & giggles I read some of the literature she suggested. I decided to try going fluoride free and increase my intake of grass feed butter, eggs, dairy, & meat because a few woo woo articles discussed how vitamin K2 (present only in grass fed products) provided better results for teeth & overall health. Again I myself was doubtful but willing to see what happened.

    Yesterday my dentist said my teeth were doing great, including my molars. I made more progress with my teeth issue by eating grass fed products in 6 months, than I did using concentrated fluoride for 1 1/2 years. I now believe that the real issue for me & possibly others has to do w/ diet & poor nutrition. By fluoridating the water we will not be addressing the real issues regarding teeth. Instead lets spend 5 million on helping folks, especially kids, get proper nutrition.

    And think of this…if our city had a high rate of depression (which we do) would we be okay with putting a bunch of prozac in the water? Even if the medication is harmless, we should have a choice in what is put in the water we drink, water our crops with, and cook with.

  15. The most compelling data of community water fluoridation’s effectiveness is the huge Louisiana study which found 2/3rds of the operations for terrible cavities in kids are avoided with community water fluoridation (CWF).

    see: Water Fluoridation & Costs of Medicaid Treatment for Dental Decay. MMWR. CDC 09/03/1999

    In the Louisiana study 50% of the dental bills for the kids studied were avoided. A subsequent Colorado study found that the beneficial effect on these young kids mouths alone returns 150% in lower dental bills.

    see: Prev Chronic Dis. 2012 Mar;9: A simulation model for designing effective interventions in early childhood caries. Hirsch GB, et al

    Done under anesthesia procedures include extractions root canals & stainless steel crowns & cost up to $15,000. These happen more often in Portland without CWF. Data presented to the Oregon Legislature in 2005 showed about 75% prevention of these operations in The Dalles, fluoridated since 1956

    Portlanders should read the long list of prestigious organizations representing thousands of medical, dental & public experts & many health advocacy organizations like the Pew Charitable Trust whose only goal is to better the common good. It is quite obvious from both that list and the list of regional health advocates that physicians, dentists and public health workers are foursquare behind CWF.

    Those who oppose CWF harm the community’s oral health, especially the kids. Avoiding fluoridation keeps Oregon at the bottom for both oral health and fluoridation. Is is arguing for increased pain suffering & life-long disadvantages.

  16. Oppose fluoridation: EPA Headquarters Union Scientists

    Endorse fluoridation:

    Acad Dentistry InterNatl
    Acad General Dentistry
    Acad for Sports Dentistry
    Alzheimer’s Assoc
    America’s Health Insurance Plans
    Am Acad Family Physicians
    Am Acad Nurse Practitioners
    Am Acad Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
    Am Acad Orthopaedic Surgeons
    Am Acad Pediatrics
    Am Acad Pediatric Dentistry
    Am Acad Periodontology
    Am Acad Physician Assistants
    Am Assoc for Community Dental Programs
    Am Assoc for Dental Research
    Am Assoc for Health Education
    Am Assoc for the Advancement Science
    Am Assoc Endodontists
    Am Assoc Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
    Am Assoc Orthodontists
    Am Assoc Public Health Dentistry
    Am Assoc Women Dentists
    Am Cancer Society
    Am College Dentists
    Am College Physicians / Am Society Internal Medicine
    Am College Preventive Medicine
    Am College Prosthodontists
    Am Council on Science and Health
    Am Dental Assistants Assoc
    Am Dental Assoc
    Am Dental Education Assoc
    Am Dental Hygienists’ Assoc
    Am Dietetic Assoc
    Am Federation Labor and Congress
    of Industrial Orgs
    Am Hospital Assoc
    Am Legislative Exchange Council
    Am Medical Assoc
    Am Nurses Assoc
    Am Osteopathic Assoc
    Am Pharmacists Assoc
    Am Public Health Assoc
    Am School Health Assoc
    Am Society for Clinical Nutrition
    Am Society for Nutritional Sciences
    Am Student Dental Assoc
    Am Water Works Assoc
    Assoc for Academic Health Centers
    Assoc Am Medical Colleges
    Assoc Clinicians for the Underserved
    Assoc Maternal & Child Health Programs
    Assoc State & Territorial Dental Directors
    Assoc State & Territorial Health Officials
    Assoc State & Territorial Public Health
    Nutrition Directors
    British Fluoridation Society
    Canadian Dental Assoc
    Canadian Dental Hygienists Assoc
    Canadian Medical Assoc
    Canadian Nurses Assoc
    Canadian Paediatric Society
    Canadian Public Health Assoc
    Child Welfare League America
    Children’s Dental Health Project
    Chocolate Manufacturers Assoc
    Consumer Federation America
    Council State & Territorial Epidemiologists
    Delta Dental Plans Assoc
    FDI World Dental Federation
    Federation Am Hospitals
    Hispanic Dental Assoc
    Indian Dental Assoc (USA.)
    Institute Medicine
    InterNatl Assoc for Dental Research
    InterNatl Assoc for Orthodontics
    InterNatl College Dentists
    March Dimes Birth Defects Found
    Natl Assoc Community Health Centers
    Natl Assoc County & City Health Officials
    Natl Assoc Dental Assistants
    Natl Assoc Local Boards Health
    Natl Assoc Social Workers
    Natl Confectioners Assoc
    Natl Council Against Health Fraud
    Natl Dental Assistants Assoc
    Natl Dental Assoc
    Natl Dental Hygienists’ Assoc
    Natl Down Syndrome Congress
    Natl Down Syndrome Society
    Natl Found Dentistry for the Handicapped
    Natl Head Start Assoc
    Natl Health Law Program
    Natl Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition
    Oral Health America
    Robert Wood Johnson Found
    Society for Public Health Education
    Society Am Indian Dentists
    Special Care Dentistry
    Acad Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities
    Am Assoc Hospital Dentists
    Am Society for Geriatric Dentistry
    The Children’s Health Fund
    The Dental Health Found (of California)
    US Department Defense
    US Department Veterans Affairs
    US Public Health Service
    Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)
    Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
    Natl Institute Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
    World Federation Orthodontists
    World Health Org

  17. Perhaps the dental crisis would better be addressed by better nutrition and a single-payer health CARE system, rather than by purchasing the aluminum industry’s waste product. Alternatively, 5 million smackers could be divvied up as grants to people who want to drink this stuff; that way pro-fluoride folks would at least be getting uniform doses, appropriate to their age and size. This isn’t “tin hat” stuff, it’s simple fact. (sigh)

  18. Portland – Toxic Fluoride (hazardous waste)

    Chemicals – hexafluorosilicic acid and sodium fluorosilicate
    Derived from the phosphate mining industry,
    both considered highly toxic by the EPA
    These hazardous wastes are dumped into drinking water
    LIES … Fluoride – it’s so good for your teeth
    lies the dentist, lies the doctor, lies the politician
    Lies the dead fish
    in the water

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEZ15m-D_n8

  22. Harvard School of Medicine showed it reduced IQ in children. Kids in Portland are too smart anyway. But the real reason is that is cost too much to dispose of industrial fluoride waste and dumping it where it could get into drinking water is illegal. So why not sell it to the city and let THEM dump it legally in the water? Of course certain politicians will received nifty campaign funds from the industrial plants. All nice and neat and the people will be none the wiser. Wink-wink

Comments are closed.