FARMINGTON -- A community leader who has long battled with Davis County Health officials over fluoridating the county's drinking water now wants to join forces with the agency to combat tooth decay resulting from sippy cup syndrome.
Lorna Rosenstein, director of Utahns For Better Dental Health, is asking Davis County to provide her with free booth space at the Aug. 15-18 county fair. She is organizing dental health professionals to present her "Baby Your Baby's Teeth" campaign, mainly as it relates to baby bottle/sippy cup syndrome.
"I want to be at the fair, and for the health department to pay for it," said Rosenstein, who made her request to the Davis County Commission this week.
The cost to rent a booth at the fair is $285 to $380 for the four-day event, Legacy Events Center officials said.
"It really is time for us to put our money where our mouth is," Rosenstein told commissioners.
The county receives various requests every year, and this is one they will have to look at, County Commissioner John Petroff Jr. said.
"We'll do everything we can to help," he said.
However, following the commission meeting, health officials acted quickly, indicating their department would cover the cost of the booth rental.
A recent study published in the Journal of Dentistry for Children confirms that, out of 186 children with baby tooth decay, 29 percent used sippy cups.
Although convenient in preventing children from spilling their drinks, sippy cups require the same mechanism for children to ingest beverages as sucking on a bottle. During the process, the beverages immerse the six incisor teeth, barring the usual cleaning, neutralizing and rinsing effect of saliva, according to Women's Care website.
Rosenstein, who is also director of Waterwatch of Utah, an organization opposed to efforts to fluoridate the county's drinking water, said she won't have any difficulty staffing the booth with dental health volunteers.
The Layton resident hopes her effort will repair some of the long history she has of being on the opposite side of the fluoridation debate. She said:
"This gives everybody the opportunity to do the right thing."
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