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 ♦ » •