Fluoridation advocacy group gathers signatures for ballot measure
A group of citizens, dentists and other health care professionals says it is well on its way to gathering enough signatures to put the question of water fluoridation on the November ballot for Wichita.
Dr. Sara Meng is a dentist and chair of Wichitans for Healthy Teeth. She attended a kickoff rally Thursday afternoon at GraceMed Clinic at 1122 N. Topeka in Wichita.
"We had a tremendous response from the people in attendance and had a tremendous reponse from the community with over 5,500 petition signatures of Wichita citizens already collected in support of community water fluoridation."
Wichita is the country's fourth-largest city that does not adjust fluoride levels in the drinking water supply. The other cities are Honolulu, San Antonio and Portland, Ore. A ballot measure to fluoridate Wichita water was defeated in 1978.
Dr. Meng said Wichita is not as healthy as it could be without the proper level of tooth decay-reducing fluoride in its water supply.
"Every reputable health organization agrees that community water fluoridation is a safe, healthy, effective way to prevent decay in our community," she said.
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