Coos Bay & North Bend are two small, side by side towns located in Oregon’s southern coast.  The Coos Bay North Bend Waterboard has added fluoride to the towns’ water for years, claiming that it helps prevent tooth decay.

Residents of Coos Bay & North Bend deserve clean water!  Fluoride is a corrosive chemical that serves no real purpose when added to drinking water and is “possibly unsafe”, according to webmd.com, when large amounts are consumed. 

According to webmd.com,

“When taken by mouth: Fluoride is LIKELY SAFE for most people in the amounts added to public water supplies. It is POSSIBLY SAFE when low doses (up to 20 mg per day of elemental fluoride) of supplemental fluoride are taken by mouth. Higher doses are POSSIBLY UNSAFE and can weaken bones and ligaments, and cause muscle weakness and nervous system problems.

When applied to the teeth: Fluoride is LIKELY SAFE for most people when used in toothpastes and mouthwashes, and applied by dentists.”

Since fluoride has been proven unsafe for some people, residents should have the right to choose whether or not they would like to use fluoride. Public water in which fluoride is added removes this right and forces those who choose not to include fluoride to buy bottled water, since fluoride cannot be filtered out of water without expensive, specialized filters.

Bottom line: we, as residents should get to choose if and how we incorporate fluoride into our lifestyle. We can get treatments at the dentist and we can buy fluoridated toothpaste if we are concerned about tooth decay and believe that fluoride will help. Coos Bay North Bend Waterboard does not have the right to make this choice for everyone.