By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- The village Board of Trustees will effectively choose a side on Monday, Sept. 17 in the passionate debate over whether fluoridation of village water will continue or not.

Before their regular meeting Sept. 4, they conducted a hearing to allow a final round of arguments on both sides: whether to keep fluoridating the water as a measure to help prevent tooth decay or to stop the program to allay fears of those who say it amounts to an accumulation of toxins in the water and people’s bodies. The arguments closely mirrored what people had to say at a meeting on Aug. 20.

Amid the established lines of debate that usually dominate discussions of fluoridation, some common ground seemed to be occupied by people from both sides. They stepped back from the established arguments over safety and efficacy to suggest that a more comprehensive approach to improving dental health in the breadth of the community is what is called for.

Susan Powers of Potsdam said she wanted “to reach all of our neighbors,” not just village residents. Fluoridating village water doesn’t reach enough people to address what many medical professionals who spoke stressed was a serious problem in the relatively poor population of St. Lawrence County. And others had similar ideas.

Others who opposed continuing it said they thought other methods of prevention could be considered, or the village should go slower or put the issue to a referendum.

Jerry Bartlett of Colton offered a plan he said is more environmentally friendly and more inclusive.

He suggested adopting something similar to the free school lunch program where children from lower income families could be identified and supplied with a range of measures such as fluoride toothpaste, topical fluoride applications, and other methods where dosage can be calculated, if their families choose to participate.

Bartlett suggests distribution of toothbrushes should be combined with a demonstration of how to use them, along with other dental hygiene information, not just to children but to adults as well.

And he suggests beginning it as a pilot program with volunteers, and with help from local dental professionals and from dental suppliers willing to donate materials. And he suggests that Potsdam can lead the effort with adoption of his ideas.

St. Lawrence County at one time ran a children’s dental sealant program but no longer does.

The Community Health Center of the North Country in Canton has a dental sealant program along with “an educational presentation, screenings, sealant placements and follow-ups for 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders who have received permission from a parent or guardian. The program will travel to 21 schools in 17 districts, including 3 parochial schools,” the CHCNC web site says.

Others also stressed the need for more outreach, while one speaker urged the village to consider that, whatever else they may do, they not abandon the fluoridation program.

But at this meeting as at others, there were many medical and dental professionals who spoke about the mass of evidence showing that water fluoridation is safe, effective at helping prevent tooth decay and more severe complications, and that it is cost effective when it prevents conditions needing treatment.

And as at previous meetings, some people said they opposed continuing village water fluoridation based on a belief that it is unsafe, and unfair to those who live in the village and don’t want it.

After the hearing, during the regular village board meeting, there were dueling presentations from a well-known dentist and fluoridation proponent from Florida who also made a presentation at the last village meeting, and a dentist from a remote location with an opposition presentation.

Clarkson University Prof. Dr. Alan Rossner, who has a Ph.D. in environmental health, said that with all the evidence in favor of fluoridation, the village must not stop the program because “there is not enough evidence to stop.”

Mayor Ron Tischler said that a vote on the issue will be on the agenda for the next regular Board of Trustees meeting Monday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.