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
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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
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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
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