The best county programs address an intractable problem with an innovative, sustainable, and collaborative solution that gets to the heart of the matter—or in the case of Amador County—to the “root” of the matter.  They take oral health care seriously in Amador County because the water isn’t fluoridated. Now, maybe that doesn’t sound like a huge problem, but tooth decay and cavities are nothing to smile about, and fluoride protects teeth—especially children’s teeth—from those preventable problems.

As Doctor David Stone from the Sutter-Amador Pediatric clinic told us, “Having a cavity is just like having any other infection in your body. You don’t eat as well, you can’t sleep well, and you can’t concentrate in school.” So, there is good reason to take oral health seriously, especially for children. Amador County developed a program to protect children’s teeth with a fluoride application when they come in for their well-child checkups and vaccinations.