State set to remove access to community water fluoridation
Experts have argued against the removal of fluoride from Oklahoma’s public drinking water after state officials removed a recommendation for community water fluoridation in June.
The move aligned with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again program, which has characterized fluoride as industrial waste and falsely implicated the mineral in a number of diseases, according to a news article from NPR. The experts cited in the article explained that fluoride, a naturally occurring mineral found in most drinking water, is known to protect oral health and have no harmful effects at the level used to fluoridate in the United States.
Nonetheless, 21 states have introduced legislation that would impact access to fluoridated drinking water in response to Mr. Kennedy’s antifluoride campaign. Despite the number of proposed bans, just two of the states decided to remove access to fluoride.
The American Dental Association — which has continued to reaffirm its support for water fluoridation — indicated that the removal of fluoride could cost Oklahoma residents a total of over $100 million per year in dental care and drive up the rate of dental decay. Research has found that exposure to fluoridated drinking water could reduce the risk of dental caries among children and adults by up to 25%. The experts noted that despite concerns regarding the cost of continuing water fluoridation, communities implementing the practice see a return of investment of about $20 for every $1 directed toward adding fluoride to their water systems. Further, the benefit could be greater in rural communities, where disparities in dental care are driven by more limited resources.
The experts underscored the critical need to preserve access to fluoridated drinking water in Oklahoma and urged policymakers not to cease the practice without a strategy that would effectively replace the preventive care that fluoridated drinking water currently offers residents.
Read more: NPR
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