An official in a small Vermont community’s water department secretly reduced fluoride levels nearly four years ago, shocking the community’s residents last month and raising concerns about their children’s dental health and open government. This incident also brought to light the persistent myths surrounding water fluoridation.
At a water commission meeting last week, Richmond resident Katie Mather said that her two children’s first cavities had just been discovered by their dentist. Richmond has a population of roughly 4,100. Although she confessed that they consumed a lot of sweets, she pointed out that her dentist had advised against taking more fluoride because the town’s water should be sufficient.
According to Mather, her dentist “was working and giving professional advice based on state criteria we all felt were being met, which they were not.” “What bothers me is that we weren’t given the chance to provide our informed permission.”
Since the 1940s and 1950s, municipalities all over the United States have routinely added fluoride to their public drinking water systems, although some individuals still object, and many other nations do not fluoridate their water for a variety of reasons, including practicality.
What level of fluoride is excessive?
Some cities have stopped adding fluoride to public water in recent years in response to criticism that the effects of fluoride on health aren’t fully understood and that it can serve as an unwanted drug. After some kids drank too much of it and developed white splotches on their teeth from having too much of it, the U.S. government cut the recommended amount of drinking water in 2015.
Although these blotches are mainly an aesthetic issue, the American Dental Association warns that fluoride, along with other vital elements like salt, iron, and oxygen, can be hazardous in high concentrations.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who estimated in 2018 that 73% of the U.S. population was supplied by water systems with adequate fluoride to protect teeth, say that fluoride in water reduces cavities or tooth decay by roughly 25% in the required doses. As a result, when it was revealed that the water in Richmond wasn’t up to par, several people were shocked.
Why the fluoride level was reduced, according to the water superintendent:
The Water and Sewer Commission was informed in September by Kendall Chamberlin, Richmond’s water and wastewater superintendent, that he had cut the fluoride level due to his worries regarding changes to its sourcing and suggested levels.
Because Chinese fluoride is used in American drinking water systems, he expressed concern about quality control. This statement matches erroneous rumors about Chinese fluoride that have been circulating online recently.
And he added that he didn’t believe the state’s suggested quantity of fluoride was necessary at this time.
“To err on the side of caution is not a bad position to be in,” he added. “My obligation is to take reasonable care and judgment for the protection of public health, safety, and the environment of my consumers.”
An email asking Chamberlin for comment received no response.
The CDC claims that Chinese fluoride additives are examined.
Due to the lack of domestic manufacturers, two of the three fluoride additives that U.S. water systems are permitted to use actually originate from China. However, all are subject to strict standards, testing, and certification to ensure safety, according to CDC spokesperson Tracy Boehmer in an email. The Vermont Department of Health’s spokespersons agreed that all additives must adhere to these federal criteria.
Residents and physicians were shocked by Chamberlin’s choice.
“It is improper for one person to decide alone that this public health benefit might not be justified. It seems absurd to me “On September 19, retired doctor Allen Knowles made a statement. He said that his 8-month-old granddaughter had enough fluoridated water.
Fluoride is one of the most effective and significant public health initiatives that have ever been implemented in our country, according to Knowles. “It is simply beyond debate that oral disease has decreased. You don’t determine safety solely on a single individual’s viewpoint, a single study, or this or that.”
Natural fluoride is present in most water supplies, although often not in sufficient amounts to prevent cavities.
Grand Rapids, Michigan introduced the mineral to drinking water for the first time in 1945. It is now widespread, but more so in certain states than others; according to the United Health Foundation, the states with the fewest people who drink fluoridated water are Oregon, New Jersey, and Hawaii.
Additionally, toothpaste, other topical products, and several meals contain fluoride.
According to the Vermont Department of Health, 29 of Vermont’s 465 public water systems fluoridate voluntarily, providing fluoridated water to little over half of the state’s thinly populated and primarily rural people. Federal recommendations form the basis of the state’s minimum standard level.
Towns that fluoridate are required to keep their levels within the state’s standards and provide the state Health Department with monthly reports.
The director of the Office of Oral Health, Robin Miller, noted in an email that the state’s prior fluoride program manager, who retired in 2019, had tried working with Chamberlin and his team in Richmond, “and things would improve for a bit, but dip back down again.”
Miller claimed that until March of this year, she was unaware that the town’s fluoride level has been continuously low for such a long time. The levels did not improve following a site visit by the state in April, so Miller called the Richmond town manager in June, who invited her to the meeting in September, according to Miller.
The official who started the dispute offers his condolences.
Katie Mather brought up her children’s teeth during the second meeting on Monday, and Chamberlin, who doesn’t reside in the area but was there online, gave a statement of regret.
Words are insufficient to convey his regret for starting this situation. “I assure you that I have always only acted with good intentions that were based on a mistake. I swear I’ll make sure something like that never occurs again.”
The monthly report is evaluated by the town manager and sent to the state, according to a former Richmond employee who worked under Chamberlin.
“Not just one man is acting as he pleases. He presents his supervisor with these reports, who then signs them “Erik Bailey, who is currently Johnson’s village manager, stated.
Chamberlin or other employees always assured the town manager, Josh Arneson, that the levels were appropriate. He said that the authorities first informed him about the persistently low levels in June.
The commission decided to resume full fluoridation of the water. Personnel matters were talked about in private; therefore it’s unclear if anyone could suffer professional ramifications.
