BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Members and doctors from the Eighth District Dental Society voiced their concerns to Buffalo's Common Council over the lack of fluoride in the city's water. The Buffalo Water Board said this was because of system upgrades.
READ MORE: Buffalo Water customers without fluoride for nearly a decade, report shows
Dr. Amanda Cryan is a pediatric dentist who shared her concerns as a former City of Buffalo resident.
"Dental cavities are the number one chronic disease in children and fluoride plays the biggest role in reducing this disease risk," Dr. Cryan said.
Dr. Brendan Dowd urged the Council to take action and said fluoride is sometimes the first line of defense for some kids who can't get to the dentist or who can't afford a dentist.
Dr. Emily Friedan said while working as a pediatrician in Buffalo she has noticed a higher rate of children receiving anesthesia to get their teeth fixed compared to children in the suburbs.
"We wondered what it was...and a few months later in January in 2023 we found out why," she said, "There is absolutely no doubt as you've heard that fluoride in the water prevents dental disease in children."
Retired nurse practitioner Pat Polowy said she wishes she would've known about the lack of fluoride while caring for her patients.
"We've would've prescribed vitamins with fluoride and timely fluoride varnishes to the children in our care," Polowy said.
The Council announced during Wednesday's committee meeting that they are sending a letter to the Buffalo Water Board to get answers on the years-long situation. Niagara District Council member David Rivera said the Council needs to know a timetable for when the city will start adding fluoride back into the drinking water.
"The longer we go the more disenfranchised folks who don't have access to a dentist become," University District Council member Rasheed Wyatt said.
The lack of fluoride also sparked a class action lawsuit that's currently in federal court. Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria junior partner, Robert Corp, said his clients are frustrated that fluoride hasn't been restored.
READ MORE: Class action lawsuit filed against city of Buffalo regarding lack of fluoride in city water
"Well now as we feared would happen — it's 2024 and it's been months since we've heard anything from anyone at the city about when this critical health benefit for the population is going to resume," Corp said, "We just call again, as we've been doing for months or a year, for the fluoride to be resumed and for the city to begin trying to clean up the mess that was made."
The Erie County Health Department told 7 News' Kristen Mirand that the department is currently reviewing comments from the City of Buffalo's engineers over restoring fluoride. A City of Buffalo spokesperson told Mirand that the city is hopeful the process will wrap up soon.
