The Oregonian – April 4, 2007

Oregon fluoride bill inches forward

A House panel moves the plan along but without a recommendation

DON COLBURN

A proposal to add fluoride to Oregon's water supply to prevent tooth decay stayed alive -- barely -- in the Oregon House on Tuesday.

After two hours of sharply divided testimony, the House health policy subcommittee voted to move the fluoridation bill to the full House Committee on Health Care but without a recommendation on its merits.

Oregon ranks 48th among states, trailed by New Jersey and Hawaii, in percentage of residents with fluoridated water. The bill would mandate fluoridation in cities with more than 10,000 residents. A similar Senate bill has yet to have a hearing.

"This is a complex and sometimes contentious issue," said Rep. Tina Kotek, D-Portland, chairwoman of the subcommittee, in opening the hearing.

Two-thirds of the U.S. population drinks from fluoridated water supplies. Proponents cite the 60-year history of fluoridation nationally and its track record of safety. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls fluoridation one of the 10 most important public health advances of the 20th century, and it estimates that every dollar invested in fluoridation saves $38 in reduced dental costs.

But in Oregon, a coalition of anti-government conservatives, advocates of local control and environmentalists has blocked statewide fluoridation.

The subcommittee heard testimony from dueling panels. Each side accused the other of hyping anecdotal evidence and manipulating data out of context. Rather than vote up or down on the bill, lawmakers chose to move it to the full committee for more debate, possibly starting Friday.

Gordon Empey, dental consultant to the state Public Health Division, called fluoridation an "effective, safe and economical" way of reducing cavities in children. He said fluoridation reduces dental cavities by 18 percent to 40 percent and particularly benefits low-income people least likely to have access to good dental care.

Weston Herringer Jr., a pediatric dentist who directs the pediatric dental residency at Oregon Health & Science University Dental School, told of the striking difference he saw in patients when he divided his practice between Salem, which has fluoridated water, and Lincoln City, which does not. A middle-class child in Lincoln City typically would have twice as much tooth decay as a comparable child in Salem, he said.

Opponents raised a variety of doubts, including concerns about cost and safety. They also argued that mass fluoridation unfairly trumps individual choice and pollutes water.

"You're essentially playing the role of doctor," Brent Foster, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper, told lawmakers. He called fluoride an "industrial waste byproduct."

Don Colburn: 503-294-5124; doncolburn@news.oregonian.com