Fluoridation
The City of Oxnard receives approximately 50% of its water supply from Calleguas Municipal Water District, a member agency of Metropolitan Water District of Sourthern California. The Jensen Plant will be the fifth plant to come online with fluoridation on November 26, 2007. The Jensen plant provides the imported water to Calleguas and delivers it to the City.
To learn more about where your water comes from, visit Water Supply and Sources on our website.
Background
In October 2007, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is scheduled to join a majority of the nation’s public water suppliers in adding fluoride to drinking water in order to prevent tooth decay. In line with recommendations from the California Department of Public Health, as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Metropolitan will adjust the natural fluoride level in the water, which ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 parts per million, to the optimal range for dental health of 0.7 to 0.8 parts per million. Fluoride levels in drinking water are limited under California state regulations at a maximum dosage of 2 parts per million.
About Fluoride
-
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found both in surface water (water from snowmelt, rivers and streams) as well as groundwater.
-
Fluoride’s benefits for teeth were discovered in the 1930s by scientists who saw extremely low tooth decay rates among people whose water supplies had a significant amount of natural fluoride.
-
Fluoride helps teeth resist decay by strengthening the protective layer of tooth enamel, and can reverse newly formed cavities.
-
Fluoride has been added to U.S. drinking water supplies since 1945.
-
The three primary agents used to fluoridate water are sodium fluoride (made of sodium and fluoride atoms bonded together), sodium fluorosilicate (sodium, silicon and fluoride) and fluorosilicic acid (hydrogen, silicon and fluoride). Metropolitan will use fluorosilicic acid because of the safety and reliability this treatment chemical offers.
-
Of the 50 largest cities in the U.S., 43 fluoridate their drinking water.
-
While exposure to fluoride can cause dental fluorosis, most cases in communities with optimally fluoridated water are very mild and characterized by barely visible white opaque spots on the teeth.
Fluoride FAQ – 1.77 MB Fluoride Brochure – 1.42 MB |
Benefits
-
At a cost of less than a dollar a family per year, the dental and medical health communities believe fluoridation offers Southern California consumers an additional level of public health protection. Metropolitan estimates the total cost to be less than $2 per acre-foot of water. An acre-foot (nearly 326,000 gallons) serves two typical Southland families for one year.
-
The American Dental Association estimates that the lifetime cost per person to fluoridate a water system is less than the cost of one dental filling. Every dollar spent on fluoridation saves $38 in avoided dental bills, according to the CDC.
-
More than 60 years of scientific research and experience have found people living in communities with fluoridated water have healthier teeth and fewer cavities than people living where water is not fluoridated.
-
Fluoridated water cuts across socio-economic dividers, offering everyone equal health benefits.
Supporters
-
Community water fluoridation is supported by most major national and international health service organizations. Supporters include: the American Dental Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization.
-
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recognized fluoridation of drinking water as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.
-
Since 1945, the U.S. Surgeon General’s office has committed its support for community fluoridation. As then-Surgeon General Dr. Richard H. Carmona said in July 2004, “Community water fluoridation continues to be the most cost-effective, practical and safe means for reducing and controlling the occurrence of tooth decay in a community.”
Additional Resources for Information
There are many places to go for additional information about the fluoridation of drinking water. They include:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Cancer Institute
American Dental Association
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
American Water Works Association
California Department of Public Health
File Viewing Information
This page contains Adobe Acrobat PDF (.pdf) files. To view PDF documents please download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. |