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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2012)
Diversity in Style Art on the Boulevard Six new public art murals take shape Holiday weekend at McCoy Academy gallery See Metro, page 11 Volum eXXX XI ‘City o f Roses' Number 33 It j j 1 3| Ifl *3 See Arts & Entertainment, page 13 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • August 29, 2012 Established in 1970 v p z y y n <r» Committed Committed to to Cultural Cultural Diversity Diversity photo by M indy C ooper TT hf . P ortland O bserver Opinions are running high over a plan to add fluoride to Portland’s water supply in an effort to fight tooth decay and improve public health. Public Health Debate Should fluoride be added to our water? by M indy C ooper T he P ortland O bserver A debate ov er w hether or not fluoride should be added to the public w ater supply has taken cen ter stage in Portland, after C ity C om m issioner R andy L eonard scheduled a public hearing next w eek, Sept. 6, w ith a council vote scheduled less than a w eek later. A s the second largest city in the country to not have » ♦ fluoride in its w ater, P ortland also stands out w ith one o f the highest rates o f tooth decay am ong children and adults in the nation. A ccording to the O regon D ental A sso ciatio n ’s 2007 O regon Sm ile Survey, m ore than 35 percent o f O regon children suffer from untreated tooth decay — m ore than double the rate in W ashington (15 percent) and o th er n eig h boring states. A lthough poor dental health o utcom es c a n ’t be directly pinpointed to the lack o f fluoride in the w ater, m any experts believe the m issing ingredient is the nu m b er one reason for the m etro a re a ’s low rank for ch ildhood oral health. “T his public h ealth crisis is having devastating effects on o u r children, the poor, and the unin su red ,” said John S nyder, D M D , dental director and chief executi ve officer o f Perm anente D ental A ssociates. A ccess to oral health care is a critical p ro b lem fo r low - incom e, underinsured, and uninsured fam ilies, w ho are p a r ticularly v ulnerable to tooth d ecay and associated health issues, he said. “T his reality, co u p led w ith an u ninsured rate hig h er than 4 0 other states, has created an oral health em ergency in P ortland and all o f O regon.” A lthough Portlanders have voted three tim es against the fluoridation in the past, Leonard, along w ith C o m m issio ner N ick Fish and M ay o r Sam A dam s, have an n o u n ced their support o f the plan, in hopes to decrease the exponentially continued on page 4 ♦ » •