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Oregon ranks 49th out of 51. Eugene voted for fluoride twice and had it overturned within a year both times. Here is the data, and what it means for your kids' teeth.
Nearly three quarters of Americans on a public water system drink fluoridated water. In Oregon it is roughly a quarter. In Springfield and Eugene it is neither of those numbers, because both utilities add exactly zero.
That is not an accident or an oversight. It is the result of ballot fights that ended almost fifty years ago, and most people living here now have no idea they happened.
Percentage of each state's population on community water systems receiving fluoridated water. Hover any bar. Oregon is the orange one.
Source: CDC, 2022 Water Fluoridation Statistics, Water Fluoridation Reporting System.
New Jersey and Hawaii. That is the entire list. Everyone else in America is doing better than we are at the single cheapest cavity prevention measure ever deployed at scale.
Kentucky is at 99.7 percent. Minnesota is at 98.9. Illinois is at 98.2. Oregon sits at 26.4, which works out to about 945,000 people out of the 3.5 million on community systems statewide. If you live in Lane County and drink from the tap, you are almost certainly in the other 2.6 million.
Pick your source. This is the honest answer for each one.
The Springfield Utility Board does not fluoridate. Trace fluoride occurs naturally in most groundwater, but it sits well under the 0.7 parts per million public health agencies recommend. Your kids are getting their protection from toothpaste and from whatever happens at the dentist, and nothing else.
This is the part almost nobody here knows, and EWEB publishes it on its own website. The utility has asked its customers about fluoride four separate times, and the pattern is remarkable.
EWEB polls customers by postcard ballot. Fluoride is rejected by a slight majority.
The question goes to a real ballot in November. A growing majority votes against it.
Eugene votes to add fluoride for the first time. Opponents call a special election the next year. Voters reverse it and impose a ban.
Eugene votes in favor again. Opponents petition for another special election. Voters reverse it again and impose another ban.
Nobody has seriously revisited it in almost fifty years. Springfield's utility has never fluoridated either.
Source: Eugene Water and Electric Board, Water Quality FAQs.
Twice, this community voted to fluoridate. Twice, a special election took it back before it ever reached a tap.
Whatever you make of the politics, the dental math is settled and it is not interesting. Water without fluoride does not protect teeth. That is the whole finding. Everything else is a question about what you do instead.
Two things carry most of the load in a town like this, and the numbers behind them are unusually strong for preventive medicine.
of cavities in back teeth stopped by sealants in the first two years
cavities happen in the back teeth, exactly where sealants go
more first molar cavities in kids aged 6 to 11 without sealants
Cavity reduction in sealed molars, measured against unsealed ones. Protection fades, which is why they get checked and redone.
Source: CDC, School Sealant Programs. About 60 percent of children aged 6 to 11 do not have sealants.
Nothing dramatic. In a fluoridated town, the water quietly does a share of the work in the background and you can be a bit lazy about the rest. Here you cannot. The defense has to be deliberate.
Fluoride toothpaste twice a day, a grain of rice for under threes and a pea for older kids. Sealants on the molars as soon as they come in, around age six and again around twelve. Professionally applied topical fluoride at checkups, which is the concentrated version your tap is not delivering.
If you are out on a well in Pleasant Hill, Creswell or up the river, get the water tested before you assume anything. Natural fluoride varies with geology. It can be near zero, and occasionally it runs higher than you want. Never guess at dosing a child, in either direction.
No fluoride is added. The Springfield Utility Board does not fluoridate, and neither does the Eugene Water and Electric Board next door. Small amounts of fluoride occur naturally in most water, but the levels here are well below the 0.7 parts per million that public health agencies recommend for preventing cavities.
Voters. EWEB publishes the history on its own site. Customers rejected fluoride by postcard ballot in 1953 and again at the ballot box in 1958. Eugene then voted in favor in 1964, and opponents called a special election in 1965 that reversed it and imposed a ban. The same thing happened again in 1976 and 1977. Eugene has voted yes twice and had it overturned within a year both times.
Then nobody is measuring it for you. Fluoride occurs naturally in groundwater and the level depends entirely on local geology, so it can be near zero or occasionally higher than you would want. Households on wells around Pleasant Hill, Creswell, Walterville and the rural stretches of Lane County should have their water tested before deciding on supplements. Never guess at fluoride dosing for a child.
Usually very little, unless the label specifically says fluoride was added. Families who switched to bottled water for taste often removed the last trace of fluoride from their kids' diet without realizing it. Check the label, and if it is silent on fluoride, assume there is none worth counting.
Two things do most of the work. Sealants on the back teeth, where the CDC reports 9 in 10 cavities happen, and professionally applied topical fluoride at checkups. Fluoride toothpaste twice a day is the third leg. In a town with no fluoridated water, those stop being optional extras and start being the whole defense.
None of this is an argument about the politics. That fight happened before most of us got here and it is not ours to relitigate. It is a practical point. The water in this valley is not going to help your kids' teeth, so the rest of it has to.
Molars come in around six and again around twelve. Those are the windows. Tell us your kid's age and we will tell you where you are in it.
541-287-78741717 Centennial Blvd, Suite #3, Springfield, OR 97477
