Residents and health professionals urge St. Clair County to restore school clinics and keep fluoride as officials outline options

St. Clair County commissioners and health officials heard hours of public comment Sept. 4 as residents, dentists and nurses urged the county to reverse recent closures of school-based clinics and to reject a recommendation to discontinue fluoridation of the county’s public water supply.

Speakers identified closures on Sept. 1 of clinics the St. Clair County Health Department had operated or supported in Algonac, the KPAC school wellness site, Yale and Marysville. The closures, residents said, remove convenient access to sports physicals, flu shots, counseling and other preventive care for adolescents and residents in rural parts of the county.

“Fluoride is a safe and effective way to reduce decay in children and adults,” said Dr. Sherry Newman, president of the Michigan Dental Association and a St. Clair County resident. “The CDC calls fluoridation the greatest public health achievement of the twentieth century.”

The public comments reflected strong consensus among local clinicians and advocates. Retired dentist Dr. Ralph Gilhulam told commissioners he had reviewed the scientific literature and saw no credible study showing harm from community water fluoridation at levels used in the United States: “Please ask Dr. Nevin to come back to this board with one single study that shows that fluoride in the water causes any health issue,” he said.

Several speakers described direct effects from lost school and outreach services. Margo Romero, a Port Huron homeowner, said the closures will force rural parents to travel into Port…