By Peak Johnson

Large sections of San Jose, CA, will be using fluoride in their drinking water. The decision comes several years after a huge push by dentists and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, among others.

According to NBC Bay Area, on Dec. 12, 230,000 people in East San Jose, Almaden Valley, and Santa Teresa began receiving fluoridated water.

By 2020, after the water district has finished upgrading its two other water treatment plants, another 520,000 people will receive fluoride, including residents of West San Jose, Cupertino, Saratoga, and other parts of Los Gatos, The Mercury News reported.

According to the water district, there are about 415,000 people in the county who already have fluoride in their drinking water. This includes residents of “Palo Alto, Mountain View and parts of Sunnyvale who receives the fluoridated water from San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy system as well as 100,000 or more residents from Evergreen, Alviso and North San Jose.”

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, one of the groups favoring the fluoride use, explained that “fluoride can help reduce high rates of cavities, particularly in low-income children with limited access to dental care.” It was in 2011 that the hospital “persuaded directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the area’s wholesale water provider, to vote 7-0 for the $6.2 million project to retrofit the district’s three drinking-water treatment plants.”

“It’s a social justice issue. The richest kids in Palo Alto have had fluoride for years, but the kids in East San Jose haven’t,” Fred Ferrer, CEO of the Health Trust, told The Mercury News.

“We see kids in elementary school coming in with rampant cavities, abscessed teeth and root canals,” Ferrer said. “When you have that kind of pain, usually you can’t eat well, or sleep well. You can’t pay attention in school.”

In order to assist in paying for upgrading the drinking water plants, the Health Trust donated $1 million, while $900,000 came from First Five Santa Clara County. The California Dental Association Foundation donated $500,000.

By 2020, roughly 1.16 million county residents will have fluoride.