Fluoridation for Millions in California

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/13/health/13FLUO.html?tntemail0

Fluoridation for Millions in California

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12 — California's largest water agency voted on Tuesday to add fluoride to the water it supplies to 18 million homes and businesses, from the Mexican border to the Central Coast.

The agency, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said it would take more than two years to fluoridate its water to protect teeth from cavities.

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"This is very significant in that public water fluoridation has been touted as one of the great public health achievements of the century," Dr. Timothy Collins, chairman of the California Fluoridation Task Force, said.

Dr. Collins, who is also head of dentistry for Los Angeles County, said fluoridation could reduce dental decay by 20 percent to 40 percent.

Only a handful of Southern California cities, like Beverly Hills and Long Beach, currently put fluoride in their water.

The director of the water district, Ronald Gastelum, said the measure would add less than $1 a year to each customer's water bill. Mr. Gastelum noted that the American Dental Association estimated that every dollar spent on putting fluoride in water saved about $80 in dental health care costs.

Only 37 percent of Californians currently receive fluoridated drinking water, the Dental Health Foundation , a coalition of California dental organizations, said.

The water district supplies water to 26 cities in six counties.

 

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