Three city councillors are hoping to reopen the discussion on fluoridation and are asking council to meet with the experts of a recent study that showed tooth decay has increased in children since fluoride was removed from the water five years ago.

Councillors Richard Pootmans, Diane Colley-Urquhart and Peter Demong submitted a Notice of Motion to council and on Monday they will look at reopening the discussion.

“This has implications for the long-term health of our population so I think it’s important that we revisit it now that we understand the consequences,” said Pootmans.

“I think going through this exercise in the next few months, it’ll also help Calgarians become well informed about both sides of the issue and then we’ll see what council does in December. You know, if they vote the status quo, I would anticipate there will be a group of people that will start a petition to get it on the ballot a year from now and we’ll go at it again,”  said Colley-Urquhart.

The University of Calgary study was released in February and found that fluoride cessation in Calgary had a negative impact on children’s dental health.

The researchers compared the dental health of children in Grade 2 in both Calgary and Edmonton from the 2004/2005 and 2013/2014 school years and looked for an increase in tooth decay on the surfaces of their teeth.

The research showed that Calgary children have an average of nine cavities compared to just over four for Edmonton children.

Adding fluoride to public drinking water started in the mid-1940s and was seen as a way of improving dental health at the population level.

Edmonton first introduced the practice in 1967 and continues to do so, while Calgary introduced it in 1991 and stopped in 2011.

The Notice of Motion references statistics from the Alex Dental Health Bus, which services high-need areas in the city, and officials say the number of children who need the service has doubled since 2013.

Monday’s discussion is to decide whether council should hold direct consultations with the U of C’s O’Brien Institute for Public Health on the findings and revisit the discussion on fluoridation.

If the motion is passed, a report is due back by December. Council did not get to the topic on Monday and will likely come to it on Tuesday.