Missouri's Community Water Fluoridation Program

An Effective Practice

Description

Missouri's Community Water Fluoridation Program is a statewide water fluoridation program to prevent dental caries and to reduce dental decay in the community. The program has been funded by the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant since its inception in 1960.

The program is supported by field staff in every district. The program’s key services include educating the public on fluoridation, training the water plant operators, and providing technical support and free fluoridation equipment to local communities starting fluoridation programs. The status of fluoridation is updated through a geographic information system that displays regional water supplies.

Goal / Mission

The goal of Missouri’s Community Water Fluoridation Program is to prevent dental caries and to reduce the associated health costs.

Results / Accomplishments

The program is evaluated every 10 years. As of 2001, the program has monitored 166 water systems, trained an average of 25 water plant operators annually, and fluoridated additional water supply for two communities every year. By 2001, the state has served 80% of its population from fluoridated water plants, exceeding the goal of Healthy People 2000 of 75%. One year of water fluoridation saves about $53 per capita from dental disease in the community.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Missouri Department of Health
Primary Contact
M. Dean Perkins, DDS, MPH
Former Missouri State Dental Director
Executive Director, Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD)
322 Cannondale Road
Jefferson City, MO 65109
573-636-0453
dperkins@astdd.org
Topics
Health / Oral Health
Environmental Health / Toxins & Contaminants
Organization(s)
Missouri Department of Health
Date of publication
Jul 2001
Date of implementation
1960
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
Missouri
For more details
http://www.astdd.org/use-of-fluoride-community-wat...
Target Audience
Children, Teens, Adults, Women, Men, Older Adults, Families, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

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Related Content for: Missouri's Community Water Fluoridation Program

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success and/or promise in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures of improvement in outcome of interest (i.e. increase in voter registration, not just delivery of voter registration drive) and/ or the outcome measure is increased or improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant.