COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Community water fluoridation in the U.S. started 73 years ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan and a retired Branch County dentist remains a staunch supporter of the process. Dr. Gene Fry spoke at last week’s meeting of the Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary Club and told his fellow Rotarians that water fluoridation has been a major factor resulting in lower rates of tooth decay in the United States.
Fry quoted a 2015 article in the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association which said water fluoridation has been called one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century, yet 70 years after its introduction in the United States, community water fluoridation can no longer be taken for granted.
According to Fry, opponents of fluoridation continue to advocate for its removal with what he said were unsubstantiated claims that it ruins the taste of water, turns your clothes dirty and causes asthma and various kinds of diseases.
In Union City two years ago, the issue was put on the ballot and in March of 2016, voters approved to continue putting fluoride into the village’s water supply.
