The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Flin Flon drinking water will have less than one-seventh the amount of fluoride recommended by many experts when the city stops adding the cavity-fighting compound next year. The province's 2009-10 water fluoridation report shows that Cliff Lake Ð the source of the city's potable water Ð naturally contains less than 0.1 milligrams of flouride per litre. Both Health Canada and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urge municipalities to maintain a level of 0.7 mg/litre in order to bolster dental health among the populace. While Manitoba Health respects city council's authority to cut fluoride, Dr. Khalida Hai-Santiago says the agency still recommends fluoridation for all communities in the province. "We would say that fluoridation for community water systems is a good way to reduce the inequalities for dental health for lower income groups," said Dr. Hai-Santiago, a practising dentist and oral health consultant for the department. "It also benefits an entire population, but it is a way of reducing the disparities between lower socioeconomic groups, racial and ethnic groups [and the rest of the population]." Access unequal She said not everyone has access to dental care and dental care products. As for the argument that people already get enough fluoride through other means, Dr. Hai-Santiago said Health Canada's recommended fluoridation level takes those sources into account. See 'Look...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 Asked whether the anti-fluoridation movement has a leg to stand on, Dr. Hai-Santiago said research considered in the fluoridation debate should be sound. "I believe that when you're looking at information, you have to look at the information that is evidence-based," she said. Asked whether Mani-toba Health urges city council to reverse its decision, Dr. Hai-Santiago simply said the department "is available to discuss the benefits for community water fluoridation, and using evidence-based information." She said fluoridation is supported by more than 90 international and national health groups, including not only Health Canada and Manitoba Health, but also the World Health Organization, Canadian Dental Association and U.S. Centre for Disease Control. City council voted 4-1 last week not to include a fluoride distributor in the new water treatment plant set to come online in the late spring or early summer of 2012. Coun. Skip Martin requested more time to study the issue, but no one seconded his motion. He was the lone opponent of the move. Majority While Mayor George Fontaine and Coun. Colleen McKee were absent, council had the four votes required to carry the resolution regardless of how those two feel. Dr. Hai-Santiago said fluoride is added to the public water systems accessed by 95 per cent of Manitobans, though not everyone necessarily chooses to drink tap water. City council's decision follows last month's controversial move by the City of Calgary to also cut flouride. CBC reported that in the Calgary debate, Ald. Druh Farrell said helping families who can't afford fluoridated toothpaste makes more sense than exposing everyone to the compound. Her argument is common among anti-fluoridation opponents, who argue that the science on the safety of fluoridation is not quite settled. In justifying her vote to end fluoridation, Coun. Karen MacKinnon said many people no longer drink tap water anyway, preferring bottled water. Dr. Hai-Santiago said if people are worried about fluoride, they should know that bottled water can "be highly unregulated," so they need to check for fluoride content. "They may just be getting [fluoride] anyway depending on where that water source is from," she said. Manitoba Health recommends bottled water come from a supplier that belongs to either the Canadian Bottled Water Association or the International Bottled Water Association.
