The state's periodic Smile Surveys report tooth-related data for kids in grades one through three. According to the 2007 report -- the most recent pending the release of the 2012 update -- 64 percent of Oregon kids had cavities. The rate has since fallen significantly, according to data reported to the federal government but not yet packaged and released to Oregonians. About 52 percent of kids now report having cavities – a drop of nearly a fifth.
The rate in Multnomah County has dropped, too. The rate was 56.3 in 2007 and 50.8 in 2012.
State officials attribute the delayed release to staffing, but the anti-fluoridation group Clean Water Portland has a darker view.
It's "concerning that we have a state agency that has delayed for months releasing data showing that Oregon cavity rates have dropped by such a significant amount," wrote Kristen Robison, head of the group's anti-fluoridation campaign. The drop itself, after all, "disproves fluoridation advocates' claims that Oregon is having a dental health crisis caused by lack of fluoridation and highlights how effective alternatives to fluoridation can be."
It's easy to understand Robison's frustration, but the latest numbers hardly undermine the case for fluoridation. Fifty percent is certainly an improvement over 56 percent, but the bottom line is still alarming: Half of kids in grades one through three have cavities. Whether you call this a crisis or something else, why shouldn't Portland respond by approving a safe, exhaustively studied, widely used and relatively inexpensive mode of prevention?
Clean Water Portland, naturally, has some answers. You can read the details on the group's website, but here are some highlights: The water additive is an industrial byproduct containing arsenic, lead and mercury; science doesn't support fluoridation; and the treatment of drinking water can lower kids' IQs and hurt salmon and rivers.
By pulling bits of potentially alarming information from studies of varying quality, then regurgitating them with minimal context, the group encourages voters to believe that the federal government and the numerous medical organizations that support fluoridation don't know what they're talking about. Either that, or they're engaged in a conspiracy to hide -- or at least ignore -- the truth.
It's not hard to imagine how people with such a perspective might view the delayed release of the latest Smile Survey. Whether they're released late, early or on time, however, results indicating a 50 percent cavity rate among young schoolchildren argue far more strongly for fluoridation than against it.