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Heated testimony for and against water fluoridation proposals at public‑health hearing
Summary
Dentists, public‑health advocates and residents offered opposing evidence and personal stories on a set of bills (S.1517, H.2548 and several related measures) that would ban or restrict municipal water fluoridation or require warnings.
The Joint Committee on Public Health heard extended testimony both supporting and opposing several bills that would ban, restrict, or require warnings about community water fluoridation (including S.1517, H.2548, S.1518, H.2549, S.1630, S.1575 and H.2449). The witnesses included leaders of the Massachusetts Dental Society and pediatric dentists, as well as residents and advocacy groups urging removal of fluoride from public water supplies.
Opponents of bans, including Dr. Francis Claremont, chair of the Massachusetts Dental Society’s Committee on Government Affairs, argued that municipal water fluoridation is a long-standing public-health tool with decades of evidence showing prevention of tooth decay. “I routinely witnessed young children with rampant decay…ten years after…
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