Dental society responds to risk of water fluoridation's end

With the future of water fluoridation at risk with the incoming Trump administration in 2025, the Massachusetts Dental Society is announcing its continued support of adding cavity-fighting fluoride to public water systems.

The announcement comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump nominated on November 14 as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under his administration, has claimed that fluoride is "an industrial waste" that President-elect Donald Trump will recommend removing from public water systems in 2025.

"Like the American Dental Association, the Massachusetts Dental Society remains staunchly in support of community water fluoridation at optimal levels to help prevent tooth decay," according to a statement from the society dated November 20.

On November 2, Kennedy posted on social media that on January 20, when Trump returns to office, his administration will call for fluoride to no longer be added to community drinking water systems. Trump has said he supports some of the controversial views on health touted by Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with no medical or public health background.

More than 70% of public drinking water in the U.S. is fluoridated. Despite the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention naming water fluoridation one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, the practice has many critics, specifically for its potential negative health risks.

A study published on October 18 in the Journal of Health Economics revealed that children exposed to public fluoridated water between the ages of 0 and 5 may experience less economic independence, physical ability, and health as adults.

Also in October, a review published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews revealed that drinking fluoridated water may not be so important now that people in the U.S. use toothpaste and mouthwashes that contain cavity-fighting fluoride.

That review came two weeks after a U.S. judge in California issued a milestone decision determining that adding fluoride to public drinking water to help prevent tooth decay is risky to individuals, including children who may face lowered IQs, and therefore requires government intervention.

Additionally, the judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take regulatory action to address these risks. The EPA must determine the potential harm of fluoride in drinking water and determine how to respond under its amended Toxic Substances Control Act.