GREENFIELD — An expert dentist spoke before the Board of Health Wednesday night on the benefits of water fluoridation — something he called an easy, safe and relatively inexpensive way to prevent tooth decay, especially in children.
Dr. John Fisher, a dentist in Salem and former president of the Massachusetts Dental Society, gives presentations to local boards of health across the state in towns that are considering adding fluoride to their public water supply. Water fluoridation, which Greenfield has considered twice since the 1980s, was recently brought to the attention of the Board of Health once again by the Community Health Center of Franklin County, which said its dental hygienist is seeing rampant tooth decay in young children while visiting the public schools.
Edward Sayer, director of the health center, said the state’s Department of Public Health put him in touch with Fisher.
“I thought it might be worth bringing up again because we see so much decay, and I just thought it would be good for the Board of Health and the citizens of the town to reconsider,” Sayer said. “There’s a variety of ways to get fluoride — none of them are really as inexpensive and widely available to kids and adults as water fluoridation would be.”
According to Fisher, water fluoridation costs between 50 cents and $3 per person, depending on the size of the community. Several years ago, he volunteered on a Mobile Access to Care Van in communities without fluoride — where tooth decay was rampant — and said the experience opened his eyes to the significant benefits of water fluoridation.
“It reaches our underserved population more than any other way,” he said. “It’s the people who are poor who are most penalized by not having community water fluoridation.”
He explained that fluoride works by strengthening enamel as teeth develop below the gums. Studies show it’s safe and effective, though an excessive amount of fluoride can cause fluorosis — marked by discoloration or enamel spots on the teeth. However, Dr. Mark Wisniewski of Greenfield, who specializes in minimally invasive dentistry, according to his website, argued that fluoride actually weakens bones.
Fisher added that while some people consider water fluoridation a personal rights issue, many forget that iodine is added to salt, folic acid is added to bread and Vitamin D is added to milk.
“It’s a public health issue; it’s really not a personal rights issue,” he said. “Prevention, to me, is the key to anything. It’s the more important part of the equation.”
Wisniewksi questioned several of the studies Fisher cited in his presentation, and Board of Health Chairman Dr. William Doyle told him he would get an opportunity to fully present his position on the issue at an upcoming meeting.
Another resident — Staci Miner — questioned whether the money that would be allocated for water fluoridation could be better spent on education or topical fluoride solutions for children. She added she’s not completely convinced that water fluoridation is safe.
“I believe water is a basic human right. We have a right to access water,” she said. “It’s not easily filtered out, so that to me is concerning.”
Water fluoridation in Greenfield would require approval from two-thirds of the Board of Health, and 10 percent of all registered voters in town would have to petition within 90 days of that approval. From there, it would go to a ballot question. If the question were to fail by more than 50 percent, the issue cannot be brought up again for another two years.