City Being Asked To Sink Teeth Into Fluoride Debate Advocates Cite Health Benefits, Seek Vote; Foes Say It’S Poison

Public health benefit or poison?

For whatever reason, the question of fluoridating Spokane’s water supply has a way of polarizing people.

Advocates, who are pushing for a citywide vote on the issue for the first time since 1984, claim it’s one of the greatest advances in public health of the 20th century.

Opponents call fluoridation poison and dismiss the piles of research supporting it as “junk science.”

People for Healthy Teeth, a committee of local health professionals and business people, is aiming for a November vote on adding fluoride to the city’s water system.

On Monday, the City Council will hold a hearing on whether it should approve the ballot title and a summary of the initiative.

If the council approves, People for Healthy Teeth would have until July 10 to collect the 8,500 signatures needed to place it on the ballot.

The council could also waive the petition process and place it on the ballot itself. That’s what fluoride supporters are hoping for.

“We’re going to present to them the idea that if you put this on the ballot, we will save $5,000 to $6,000 in having to collect signatures,” said John Robideaux, a publicist for People for Healthy Teeth. “We will donate to the downtown dental clinic whatever is left over from the campaign.”

Although only city residents will be able to vote on the initiative, some Spokane County residents will be affected because the county buys water from the city for areas such as the West Plains.

Advocates say fluoridation is a cheap and effective way of preventing tooth decay. They point to a recent report by the U.S. surgeon general calling for universal fluoridation.

Fluoride is added to the water of most large cities, including Seattle. It’s also in the water in Cheney, Fairchild Air Force Base and Pullman.

But Spokane residents have long been leery of fluoridation. In 1969, they approved it in an advisory vote to the City Council, then rejected it in a binding vote. In 1984, the council approved fluoridation, but opponents forced a public vote and it was rejected again.

Today’s fluoride opponents don’t reach the degree of alarm parodied in the 1964 movie “Dr. Strangelove,” in which one character decries fluoridation as an “international communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.” Yet the opponents nonetheless feel strongly about the issue.

Betty Fowler, founder of the Safe Water Coalition of Washington State, calls studies supporting fluoride junk science and the push for fluoridation “a case of the emperor’s new clothes.”

“Everyone’s afraid to disagree,” she said. “It does not stop tooth decay. What stops tooth decay is good nutrition and good dental habits like flossing and brushing teeth.”

She also notes that dentists support fluoridation, which in theory would put them out of business. “But do they get put out of business, or do they get more business?” she asked.

Fluoride supporters, however, say there’s no real doubt in the scientific community of fluoride’s benefits. “There’s no question we would be better off if we had fluoridation,” said Dr. Kim Thorburn, director of the Spokane Regional Health District. “This has been ranked as one of the top 10 public health accomplishments of the 20th century.”

While Thorburn supports fluoridation, the Spokane Regional Health Board, which she serves, has not taken an official position.

Board members have to balance science with the wishes of area residents, she said. “They hear regularly from those who oppose it,” Thorburn said.

Fluoridation opponents often speak before the health board and e-mail its members. They plan to speak at Monday’s council meeting.

Fowler said opponents will have a tough fight on their hands against the better-funded advocates.

“They have the money, we don’t,” she said. “But we have justice on our side.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: FLUORIDE What’s next

On Monday, the City Council will conduct a hearing on whether it should approve the ballot title and a summary of the initiative to fluoridate the city’s water.