BOTH CDC AND AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION ADVISE
                                         AGAINST MIXING FLUORIDATED WATER WITH FORMULA

Good afternoon Mayor Leffingwell and Councilmembers.   At the last meeting, where Austin Water Utility director Greg Meszaros gave a presentation on water conservation strategies, I was struck by something he said.  He covered—among other things—gray water reclamation, strategic pricing, scheduled watering times, and water-saving devices like smart sprinklers and, of course, the newer toilets.  And he mentioned a San Antonio program called “Plumbers for People,” which brings plumbers into the homes of the traditionally-underserved to help out—folks who ordinarily wouldn’t take advantage of something like the free toilets program.  Councilman Martinez later commented on the importance of outreach to the lower income ethnic minority communities and asked what AWU was doing in that regard.  And Mr. Meszaros indicated that Austin planned to implement a program similar to San Antonio’s, and had applied for stimulus dollars available for that purpose.  http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/2009/council_07232009.htm .

What instantly occurred to me was that if there’s money around to go to the apartments of the economically disadvantaged and hand out toilets, why not money to go to those same apartments to hand out dental care aids like toothpaste and toothbrushes, maybe along with a warning to new mothers not to mix fluoridated tapwater with infant formula?  I’m not being facetious.  I appreciate that the individuals responsible for water conservation are not the same as those responsible for public health, nor are the funding sources.  What is the same is the targeted community:  low income and mainly minority. This is an important point, because it’s that selfsame community which has long been used by decision-makers to justify water fluoridation.  What’s been “marketed” to them is fluoride, not good oral hygiene:  Can’t find a dentist who takes Medicaid?  Well, here’s a placebo.  It shows we care.  Now, nobody in this room played any part in making that original decision.  But we can make a better decision today.  

Of course I doubt there’s a lot of stimulus money available for the above-mentioned purpose, but certainly some of the funds could come from the hundreds of thousands of dollars we’ll save when we put an end to water fluoridation here in Austin.  Thank you.