Should fluoride be reintroduced to Windsor's water supply? Ward 9 Councillor Kieran McKenzie is leaning towards yes.
Fluoride was removed back 2013, now the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is returning to city council Monday to push for fluoridation armed with years of data.
Dental care remains a barrier for the majority of adults, regardless of household income, according to the health unit's Oral Health Report. It also states adults without dental insurance were found to be two times more likely to have a dental concern, and cavities have skyrocketed for the regions youth.
McKenzie says he'll hear both sides of the issue, but if it comes to a vote, it will be hard to change his mind.
"Children in particular, I find the evidence ... to be extremely compelling," he says. "I will listen to the debate as it unfolds Monday night but if you ask me which way I'm leaning, it's certainly towards re-fluoridating our water."
Claims in opposition to fluoridation range from lack of concentration control, the quality of the fluoride being used, adverse health effects, and the right to opt-out.
However, the report shows more than 90 accredited organizations back controlled fluoridated of water as a safe, inexpensive and an efficient tool for maintaining oral health for the masses — with no accredited opposition.
McKenzie tells AM800 News people picking and choosing information to suit an argument and vilifying public health officials is concerning.
"Some of that to a certain extent is alarming, the level of distrust that I'm noting in some of the commentary around this issue," he says. "For me, I believe that our public health officials have the best interest of the public in mind when they're making decisions and recommendations. Those recommendations, for me, are going to be very, very, powerful."
From a social justice standpoint, he's in support of anything that can improve life for low income residents who can't afford to see a dentist.
"Dental health for our community, generally, has regressed over the time period that we've taken the fluoride out of our water," says McKenzie. "A very powerful data point for me in terms of me coming to a conclusion with respect to where I might go with this debate if we're actually going to vote to put it back in, or keep it out."
Kimberly DeYong is the director of Flouride Free Windsor-Essex.
She saysthe science is mounting to the health harm fluoride can cause.
"We have a plethora of science showing health harm to specific individuals in our community," says DeYong. "Even just within this past year, just within the last few months more scientific evidence relevant to Canadian water-drinkers has come forward."
McKenzie says he's not sure if a vote will be held Monday night, but he anticipates the issue will be discussed at length.
— With files from AM800's Paul McDonald