Kingston City Council voted in favour of exploring the feasibility of adding fluoride to the community water supply, with Councillor Oosterhof being the lone dissenting vote.
The city was preparing results to present the council in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the file to be halted, city staff said information had been gathered at that time and will need to be updated to reflect current data.
City council heard from several delegations on Tuesday night, including dentists and physicians practicing in the area urging council to move forward with community water fluoridation, saying it can have a great impact health inequities.
Dr. Jennifer Archibald, a pediatric dentist in Kingston, said after stops working in the cities of London, Toronto, Boston and Detroit, she can attest to the difference community water fluoridation can make.
“This is the only city where there’s no fluoride in the water and I’m finding the rates of cavities here are the highest among any of the children or adults that I’ve treated,” Archibald said.
“Fluoridated water has a wealth of research to support the reduction of tooth decay.”
She called it one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century in North America.
After delegations, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Piotr Oglaza briefed council on the data KFLA Public Health has gathered on fluoridation, with the Board of Health voting in favour of fluoridation in March.
From data collected through dental screenings, Dr. Oglaza shared that since 2018, the rate of tooth decay in school aged children has increased from 25% to 40%, with most children having an average of 4 affected teeth.
Comparatively Leeds and Grenville increased from 20% to 25% during the same time frame while Hastings and Prince Edward County was at 33% and increased to 41%, both municipalities add fluoride to the water.
He said there are several layers of prevention that need to be taken when it comes to tooth decay, but community water fluoridation is the most effective and accessible.
“There’s no change in individual effort that’s needed to gain the benefits,” Dr. Oglaza said.
“This helps everyone and addresses the issue of health equity… we need to move to upstream prevention that can help everyone.”
While most delegations supported fluoridation there were also those against moving forward with the process.
Kingston resident Marion Gilmore cited what she called the history of fluoridation, saying fluoride was a toxic byproduct of aluminum production and the practice was adopted by municipalities after a propaganda campaign sponsored by companies like Alcoa – this story is considered by many to be a conspiracy theory.
Regardless of its roots, Gilmore said fluoridation violates personal medical rights.
“Fluoridation allows a community to do to everyone what a doctor can do to no one, force a patient to take a particular medication,” Gilmore said.
Naturally, the fluoride levels in Kingston’s water supply are roughly 0.1 parts per million, and the optimal level to prevent tooth decay is 0.7 parts per million.
While experts say that level of fluoride would result in no adverse health risks, Councillor Gary Oosterhof continued to point towards the chemical’s toxicity, and repeated Gilmore’s concerns of “mass medication”.
Oosterhof called fluoride the “most toxic chemical on the planet” and expressed confusion over why toothpaste displays warnings not to be ingested yet the municipality would choose to “cook in it and bathe in it”.
He said he wanted to speak up for the 18.5% of people who are against community water fluoridation -consistent with previous data from 2016- and that there should be other options explored to improve upon the goal of oral health equity.
“I’m wondering why we don’t look at better programs, are we doing it just because it’s cheap?” Oosterhoff questioned.
“There is science about how fluoride interacts with other chemicals that should concern us… I’m very concerned for our overall health and the impact fluoride has on a community.”
Councillor Wendy Glenn, who presented the motion to reopen the debate, countered Oosterhof’s claims, urging council to keenly evaluate the data and studies being used to support an argument.
“There is good science and there is bad science, there are what people call facts that are opinions,” Glenn said.
“Science needs to be peer-reviewed… One study on its own can’t support a position.”
Councillor Chaves also questioned whether people should be subjected to community water fluoridation if the only way to opt out from the process would be at their own expense, he did however vote in favour of further exploration.
City staff were directed to present findings, including cost of implementation, to council no later than Q4 2024 at a special meeting.
