Controversy
Status:Open
Will Tooth Cavities Rise in US States That Have Removed Fluoride in Water?
UNLIKELYLIKELY
Claims
JAMA Health Forum"Elimination of fluoride would be associated with an increase in tooth decay of 7.5 percentage points and cost approximately $9.8 billion over 5 years."Aug 25, 2025
Lisa SimonRemoving fluoride from US water supplies would result in "one newly decayed tooth for every third child in America."May 30, 2025
Darren Chamberlain"We're going to see a minimum of a 25% increase in number of cavities."May 02, 2025
NYC Mayor's Office"Water fluoridation has been shown to reduce tooth decay by 25% over a person’s life."Aug 25, 2025
Jeff Ottley"If we remove that [community water fluoridation], then we are placing the children in those communities at higher levels of tooth decay at an earlier age."Nov 23, 2024
Charlotte Lewis"If we take that [community water fluoridation] away, the expectation is that we will start to see a lot more cavities."Jan 08, 2025
Robert F. Kennedy Jr."You're gonna see probably slightly more cavities, although in Europe, where they banned fluoride, they did not see an uptick in cavities."Jun 26, 2025
Tomitra Latimer"We'll see more cavities, more infections and more complex procedures that require anesthesia, which carry greater risk and cost."May 15, 2025
Bruce Dye"After Israelis removed fluoride from water in 2014, the number of caries and cavities in children began to rise — which is what we would expect to happen."Dec 13, 2024
Chris Hanson"If we remove community water, fluoridation from community water supplies, we'll tend to see a greater increase in dental disease rates."Feb 05, 2025
Myron Allukian"Everyone will have more cavities, but the ones who will suffer the most are the low-income, children, and minorities."Jan 24, 2025
Bruce Tandy"You're going to increase the amount of dental disease because of the lack of fluoride in the water."May 07, 2025
© 2025 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.14.0
© 2025 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.14.0