Health professionals, dentists and certain community leaders are furious that Del Rio City Council members took immediate action Sept. 12 to eliminate fluoridation of the city's water.
Tuesday night (Oct. 10), at the regularly scheduled meeting of Del Rio City Council, they will present information on the issue, hoping to change minds and pave the way for reconsideration of the measure.
The leaders' ire is heightened by the belief that the decision was based on little more than the information provided by vocal opponents to the practice. John Morony, former biology professor, and Ron Burton, retired business analyst, made their case to council at the Sept. 12 council meeting, and were greeted with accord from council members who ordered the cessation of fluoridation.
At Tuesday's City Council meeting, those in favor of restoring carefully monitored levels of fluoride into the city water supply will begin their campaign to reverse the council decision, though they admit that the haste with which council acted may add difficulty to getting that reversal.
"We've done our research, though," said Sandra Fuentes, Monday. Fuentes is a leader in the Border Organization, a consortium of representatives from local churches interested in issues affecting the entire community of Del Rio.
The Border Organization will host an informational presentation and question-and-answer session on municipal water fluoridation at the conference room of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The 4:30 p.m. meeting will feature presentations by, Dr. John Brown, Dr. Juanita Pineda, Dr. Elaine Neenan, all faculty in the Department of Dentistry, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio. Dr. Tom Napier, fluoridation expert, in that department will also attend.
Dr. Sandra Guerra Cantu, Region 8 director, Texas Department of State Health Services said, Monday, that she will not be able to attend. "I may come down there in the near future when they are going to go for a vote to reconsider this with a more informed decision." Guerra-Cantu said that she would have been happy to have been here to offer information at the Sept. 12 meeting, but had no idea it was coming up until she was faxed the results of the decision afterwards.
"We hope communities in this region will call on us whenever a major health issue like this comes up. It’s of absolutely no cost to the community, and we are the health authority they should turn to whenever they need reliable information," Guerra-Cantu said. "It was pretty disturbing to everybody here that we could not be there to help provide good information on such a huge health issue."
In addition to her health management responsibilities as TDSHS regional director, Guerra-Cantu maintains aggressive practice, as well. "I'm in clinic almost every day, and I see adults all the time from communities that don't fluoridate. They come in with terrible teeth abscesses, sinus abscesses, and a great deal of pain, because they've had no protection whatsoever. For many of them it's too late, so they resort to pain killers and then often become addicted to the medication."
The Border Organization will be represented in the "Visitors" portion of the council agenda, and will be accompanied in the audience by Brown, Napier, Neenan and Pineda. The group focuses on issues of health care, education, infrastructure needs, living wages and affordable homes, according to Fuentes.
Tuesday, Sept. 26, Dr. Larry Lindenschmidt, dentist, spoke to the Del Rio Rotary Club on the fluoridation issue, blasting the Sept. 12 decision. "They [council members] have been seriously misinformed and may be misguided, too. We [dentists] really hope to go before city council to discuss this more fully," Lindenschmidt said.
Citing dental records in Marfa, Texas, Lindenschmidt pointed out that extraordinarily high levels of fluoride in the community results in a different kind of problem. "It discolors their teeth so that they become yellow "but they have no cavities," he said.
Lindenschmidt believes the council decision to eliminate introduction of fluoride is a false economy, citing the rationale that about $20,000 would be saved by halting the practice. "They've basically taken $20,000 out of their left pocket, and put it in the back pocket. But now, we - all of us taxpayers - will end up with about $1 million in dental bills."
Lindenschmidt refuted the idea that fluoride levels cannot be safely regulated, posing some threat to public health. He asserted that the city’s water treatment plant has the capability to monitor and distribute regulated levels that are efficacious without causing yellowed teeth.
Lindenschmidt also quoted statements from the American Dental Association (ADA) that "Community water fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay." ADA cites 60 years of research showing that the practice is both safe and effective in preventing tooth decay.
Provided by Paul Connett
Fluoride Action Network
