Coalition Recommends Fluoridation

An oral health board is floating a plan to fluoridate the regional water supply. Voters have rejected that idea twice.

Citing a cavity rate nearly twice as high as Seattle’s, the North Central Washington Oral Health Access Coalition decided Monday to pursue a fluoridation campaign.

Adding fluorides to drinking water can reduce the number of cavities in people who drink it. Anti-fluoridation groups contend the benefits are outweighed by the risks of adding additional chemicals to drinking water.

The seven-member coalition of dentists and public health professionals said recent statewide studies indicate Wenatchee area children have nearly double the cavity rate as those in Seattle, where the water has been fluoridated since the 1960s.