Editor's Notebook

Kevin Stitt has done it again.

For whatever reason the governor has decided that adding fluoride to drinking water in Oklahoma is a bad idea.

Sorry, but you can’t find a dentist anywhere that agrees with the brilliant Gov.

Here’s what the President of the Oklahoma Dental Association had to say about it:

“As dentists, we care deeply about the oral and overall health of our patients,” Dr. Twana Duncan, an Antlers dentist, said.

“Adding fluoride to our public water supply is a safe and effective way to prevent tooth decay, strengthening teeth and improving oral health. By simply drinking fluoridated water, Oklahomans are doing something good for their oral health. Our communities should not be forced to shut down a public health program that has provided so much benefit to so many Oklahomans.”

Duncan encouraged Oklahomans to contact Gov. Stitt, the Oklahoma State Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Quality to express their support for community fluoridation programs.

Even with the widespread availability of fluoride toothpaste, fluoridated water helps reduce tooth decay by 25 percent, according to the President of the American Dental Association, Brett Kessler, D.D.S. said.

“Community water fluoridation is a local issue that should be decided at the local level, not by bureaucrats in Oklahoma City and Washington, D.C.,” Duncan continued.

“These decisions should be made in consultation with medical experts using the latest, most accurate scientific data.

“Improving the lives of our fellow Oklahomans should be at the forefront of any public health discussion,” Dr. Duncan said.

One has to wonder on what Stitt is basing his decision.

There is no proven medical reason not to add the fluoride.