A handful of activists who want to remove fluoride from the public water supply brought their case to the Damariscotta and Newcastle Boards of Selectmen Oct. 19 and 24.
The anti-fluoride contingent testified in Damariscotta Oct. 19 without a rebuttal from the other side.
At the Newcastle meeting, however, four area medical professionals warned against removing fluoride from the water supply.
Damariscotta Health Officer Dr. Tim Goltz and Newcastle Health Officer Dr. John Dickens strongly advocated for continued fluoridation.
The health officer is an official position appointed by the selectmen.
Goltz, a family physician with Lincoln Medical Partners, said it would be “a big mistake to take fluoride out of the water.”
Goltz said he isn’t alone in his conviction. The American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Dental Association, the Center for Disease Control, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the U.S. surgeon general and the World Health Organization all endorse community fluoridation, he said.
The Center for Disease Control names fluoridation of drinking water as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.
The anti-fluoride representatives generally acknowledge the benefits of the topical application of fluoride, while arguing against its ingestion.
Dickens, however, rebuffed this argument. “Constant exposure to a low level of fluoride is good to prevent dental decay,” he said. “The scientific evidence is it’s very beneficial in our communities.”
Damariscotta dentist Dr. Jim Olson said he has “seen tremendous change in the 40 years I’ve practiced. I believe fluoride is a major reason for that.”
“I believe it is safe,” Olson said. “I think taking it out would be a tremendous disservice to the community.”
Bristol dentist Dr. Kerry Ransdell said 17 years practicing in Arizona afforded him the opportunity to witness firsthand the “astounding” increase in tooth decay rates in non-fluoridated communities.
Ransdell also took exception to an argument by fluoride opponents that the chemical mottles the teeth of nearly half of teenagers.
“There are white spots on teeth that are caused by other reasons,” Ransdell said. “You cannot lay [every white spot] at fluoride’s feet.”
Taking his cue from the other side, Ransdell said “I agree, it’s time to reevaluate, but I think [fluoridation] needs to be ringingly endorsed.”
Damariscotta resident Amy Lalime led off testimony for the opposition during a pre-referendum public hearing in front of the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen Oct. 19
“My 12-year-old daughter has fluorosis,” Lalime said, referring to a condition, the result of excessive fluoride consumption, which causes spotting of the teeth. “She doesn’t show her teeth when she smiles because she’s very self-conscious.”
Lalime helped gather signatures to place the question on the Tues., Nov. 8 ballot.
“Fluoride is a poison. It’s indisputable. It’s labeled on the bag that goes into our water,” Lalime said. “It’s on your toothpaste label.”
Joyce Polyniak, a Damariscotta resident who said she’s a chemist, also opposes the addition of fluoride to the water supply. “I don’t approve of using people as guinea pigs,” Polyniak said.
Polyniak also expressed concern about the dangers of cell phone use.
Stephanie Nelson, of Newcastle, which shares a water supply with Damariscotta and will also vote on the issue Nov. 8, posed a question to residents of the twin villages who use well water.
“I want you to please consider your neighbors that have to drink this water every day,” Nelson said. “How would you feel being forced to take a medication that you neither want nor need, especially when there is mounting evidence that fluoride does you harm?”
“We all have the right to clean, safe water and for me that means fluoride-free water,” Nelson said.
Damariscotta attorney Peter Drum cited a series of studies pointing to the ineffectiveness of ingesting fluoride as a means to combat tooth decay.
“It’s poison that’s helpful when applied topically but not when you ingest it,” Drum said.
“Fluoride can actually cause brain damage when it’s ingested in water” and the chemical “seems to reduce IQ in kids,” Drum said, again citing multiple studies.
Drum and others posit that the chemical poses a wide variety of health risks, especially to specific demographics, including infants, the elderly and chemotherapy patients.
In Newcastle, Nelson, Martha Frink, another gatherer of signatures for the petition, and Cynthia Thomas largely rehashed the same arguments.
Nelson objected to the wording of the referendum.
The question asks “Shall fluoride be added to the public water supply for the intended purpose of reducing tooth decay?”
“This is a very slanted question, obviously, because we all want to reduce tooth decay in our community,” Nelson said.
The Maine secretary of state required wording identical to the original ballot questions in 1969-1970, when the towns initially approved fluoridation.
Damariscotta and Newcastle will go to the polls on Election Day, Tues., Nov. 8. The fluoride vote, the sole question on the municipal ballot, coincides with a statewide four-question referendum.
