Calgary city council considers asking province to address tooth decay issues
Posted Sep 14, 2016 7:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A motion to review fluoride research fell flat on its face at council Tuesday night, with councillors voting 9-5 to drop the issue, but that doesn’t mean they’re are done talking about dental health for good.
When council meets next Monday, they’ll consider a new proposal put forward by Ward 7’s Druh Farrell.
Her pitch is to ask the mayor to send a letter to Alberta Health Services (AHS) to address the root causes of tooth decay in Alberta.
Farrell’s reasoning is that dental fees are too high, making services unaffordable for many, and there aren’t enough programs to help low-income Calgarians — issues she says need to be addressed by the province.
She argues fluoride alone was never going to solve the problem.
“Tooth decay rates are going up, in fact they’re going up across North America and especially in the U.S. which started water fluoridation 40 years ago,” she said.
Farrell says plain and simple, dental health is the responsibility of AHS.
“Dental health affects body health, it affects heart health,” she argued. “Why do we have the most expensive dental service in the country? People cannot afford dental service, but no amount of fluoride is going to abdicate your responsibility of taking your kids to the dentist.”
