Dr. Joanne Prasad, Pitt Dental Medicine Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, has been part of a multidisciplinary team making water fluoridation data more accessible. Together with Ms. Merrilynn Marsh and Ms. Helen Hawkey from the Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health, and Dr. Dan Bain and Ms. Megan Guy of the University of Pittsburgh's Collaboratory for Water Research, Education, and Outreach, the group created a water briefing and an online, publicly-accessible, interactive community water fluoridation map for the state of Pennsylvania. Development of the map was also assisted by Ms. Emma Mader, a graduate student from Mercyhurst University.
By entering an address, map users can learn more about their water supplier and water fluoridation status. The search can be customized to incorporate information such as the school district, voting district, and municipality. The map is also available within Pitt Dental Medicine’s electronic health record software so that students and residents can quickly and easily determine a patient's home fluoridation status.
Ms. Merrilynn Marsh and Ms. Megan Guy also presented information regarding the fluoridation map project at the CDC Water Fluoridation Program Update on May 12, 2021 ("The Development of an Interactive Fluoridation Map of Pennsylvania").