Fluoride a winner in Colorado communities

Several Colorado cities this year have validated the value of community water fluoridation as a way to improve the oral health of their residents. Denver and Hayden fought off attempts to stop fluoridation and recently Snowmass reversed its earlier decision to stop fluoridating its water supply. 

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, community dentists and oral health advocates worked with community leaders, water boards and council members to prove the case for fluoridation. The state health department provided testimony, letters of support and media awareness to encourage these communities that fluoridation is a safe, effective and cost-efficient public health strategy.

More than 70 years of research shows that fluoridating a community's water supply to an optimal level of .7 milliliters per gallon can reduce cavities by as much as 40 percent in a town's population and save as much as $61 per person per year in dental costs. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls fluoridation one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th Century.