The Poughkeepsie Joint Water Board Tuesday is expected to discuss whether to reinstate fluoride to drinking water used by about 80,000 residents in four Dutchess County communities.

The board has come under fire from local health officials, doctors and dentists after it voted in January to remove fluoride from the water system, which serves the city and Town of Poughkeepsie and parts of Hyde Park and Wappingers Falls.

Board members have said they voted to end the fluoridation process because local and state health officials have not answered board questions about whether fluoride might cause health problems, as some studies have found.

But county Commissioner of Health Dr. Michael Caldwell last month urged the board to reinstate fluoride into the water system. He cited fluoride’s health benefits, especially to poor residents who might not be able to afford proper dental care.

The water board meets [March 4] at 5 p.m. at the Poughkeepsies’ Water Treatment Facility at 3431 North Road, which is off Route 9 near Marist College.

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