See that good looking smile across the breakfast table from you, or at the desk over the partition at work? In no small part you can thank a decision announced on the front page on this day in 1963 for that.
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Canberra's water supply was to be boosted by flouride, the Minister for the Interior, Gordon Freeth announced in a letter to the territory's advisory council, advising he had accepted the council's recommendation.
His letter said: "I have considered your proposal in the light of the report of the sub-committee constituted by council and the opinions of competent authorities both in Australia and overseas. I am now prepared to approve your proposal for the fluoridation of the Canberra water supply."
The report he referred to had made plain the case that the right amount of flouride in a water supply led to far better dental health outcomes.
But adding flouride was not - and indeed is not - uncontroversial. Its addition was opposed by some Canberrans. In fact, there was an "anti-flouride committee" formed.
In one edition of the paper in 1964, a Narrabundah mother called for a rainwater tank to be installed at her home so her kids would not be exposed to the "poison".
Calling it a "beastly business", Mrs Bertram of Boolimba Crescent said flouride's addition was a "menace to health".
"As a mother, I have a duty to decide what is best for my children. I would much rather allow my children's teeth to decay than they should be slowly poisoned".
The department wrote back to tell Mrs Bertram if she wanted a water tank at her home, she could pay for it herself.
