Fluoridation for the City and parts of the County

The start of water fluoridation means that many residents should be urged to stop giving fluoride supplements to their children.

On April 4, 2000 the Board of Supervisors of Sacramento County adopted a resolution endorsing fluoridation as a safe and effective public health strategy and urging water purveyors in Sacramento County to fluoridate.

Since 1995 the state of California has had a law on the books requiring water districts with more than 10,000 connections to optimally fluoridate their water, if funds are available for capital and operational costs.

Two years ago the California Endowment offered grants to water systems that were willing to add fluoride to water. In Sacramento the push to fluoridate has been spearheaded by Dr. John Orsi and Dr. Dennis Wong, who have met with city and county officials, water district employees and the media to show the benefits of water fluoridation.

Thanks to them and to the support of virtually every dental and medical organization in the region, city residents now have fluoride in the water and the rest of the county is more likely to get it.

In our region, the city of Roseville has had fluoridated water since the 1960s and the Rosemont subdivision, served by the Citizen's water district, also has had optimally fluoridated water since that time. In addition, the residences on McClellan airforce base have fluoridated water.

All customers of the City of Sacramento water district now receive optimally fluoridated water, and customers of the County's water district who are in the Laguna area, and customers of the Citizen's water district who are in the Parkway area need to stop fluoride supplements, because these two areas also receive some Sacramento City water and will have variable levels of fluoride for the foreseeable future.

So, how do you determine if your patients should continue to give fluoride supplements to their children or not?

The following are general guidelines. Please use your judgement when making these decisions:

1. Children who live within the city limits are getting optimally fluoridated water and do not need fluoride supplementation.
   
   
2. Remember that even if the family says that the child does not drink tap water, if tap water is used to make soup, juice or for cooking, there is still a source of fluoride there.
   
   
3. All customers from the water districts that have either opitimal or variable levels of fluoridated water received a mailing in their latest bill telling them that they would be getting fluoride in their water. Persons who received this mailing at home do not need to continue fluoride supplementation for their children.
   
   
4. If children go to school within the Sacramento City School district, and drink water or eat food prepared at school, they also do not need fluoride supplements.
   
   
5. Right now there are two water districts within the County that purchase city water, and therefore have variable levels of fluoride. One is the Sacramento County Water District, which purchases water for the Laguna area in the southernmost part of the county, between Sheldon Road and Elk Grove Blvd. The other is Citizen's Water District, which purchases water for the Parkway area east of Executive Airport. The California Department of Health Services recommends that fluoride supplements be stopped in areas with variable levels of fluoride. Both these districts will be fluoridating at a later date.
   
   
6. Children living or going to school in the Laguna area, served by the Sacramento County Water District do not need fluoride supplementation. (There are variable levels of fluoride in the water.)
   
   
7. Children living or going to school in the Parkway area served by Citizen's also do not need fluoride supplementation. (There are variable levels of fluoride in the water.)
   
   
8. McClellan Air Force base housing, both on and off the base, is fluoridated.
   
   
9. Areas of the county which are not fluoridated include Arden Park, Arden Cordova, Arcade, Carmichael, Orangevale, Folsom, Foothill Farms, Rancho Cordova, Natomas, Northridge, Rio Linda, Del Paso Manor, and most of Elk Grove other than the Laguna area,
   
   

If it is uncertain whether a specific address is receiving water with fluoride, the resident at that address should call and ask his or her water purveyor.

If you have any questions, please call the Sacramento Department of Health and Human Services, 875-5881, or the California Department of Health Services at 327-8903.

healthofficer@dhhs.co.sacramento.ca.us