Make Tooth Decay Great Again: GOP Comes For Fluoride In Drinking Water

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday casually lent support to the false claim that fluoride in drinking water may be harming children, echoing the same wholly unscientific nonsense that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is using to justify his efforts to take fluoride out of drinking water nationwide.

“From what I’ve read and from what I understand, it deserves real evaluation,” Johnson told reporters at a Capitol Hill press briefing. “There’s a concern that it may be having a negative effect on the health of children.”

He conceded he doesn’t know much about this subject, but went on to say, “Obviously, we have an obligation at the federal government level to look into that.”

“I don’t have the answers,” Johnson continued. “But I think it’s one that the question has been begged and it needs to be addressed.”

The Louisiana Republican’s comments come a day after Kennedy said he plans to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending that communities put fluoride in their drinking water. He also plans to set up a task force to examine the issue.

Except none of this aligns with what medical experts say, which is that fluoride in drinking water is safe at appropriate levels and good for your health, as it prevents cavities, tooth decay and other health problems. In fact, the addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water is considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

“The growing distrust of credible, time-tested, evidence-based science is disheartening,” Dr. Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, said in a statement.

“The myths that fluoridated water is harmful and no longer necessary to prevent dental disease is troublesome and reminds me of fictional plots from old movies like ‘Dr. Strangelove,’” said Kessler. “When government officials, like Secretary Kennedy, stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research, it is injurious to public health.”

Drinking water is the primary source of fluoride for two-thirds of Americans. But some Republicans have decided it is dangerous, despite it being deemed safe and effective for decades, and want to take out of their water. Last month, Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in its public drinking water, ignoring medical experts who have warned that doing this will lead to medical problems that disproportionately hurt low-income communities.

Kennedy, who can’t use his position to make communities stop putting fluoride in water but can direct the CDC to stop recommending it, applauded Utah for its policy change.

“I’m very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it,” he said during a Monday visit to Salt Lake City. “And I hope many more will.”

Kennedy, who is notorious for spreading dangerous misinformation about vaccines, is already under fire for his response to a measles outbreak in Texas. He’s now apparently got his sights set on attacking the benefits of fluoride, a mineral he’s referred to as a “dangerous neurotoxin” and associated with arthritis, bone breaks, and thyroid disease.

He’s not wrong that higher-than-recommended doses of fluoride could hurt people. But there is no scientific basis for claiming that drinking water with appropriate levels of fluoride is harmful to children or anyone.

As recently as December 2024, a study from the University of Queensland found no measurable effect on cognitive neurodevelopment or IQ scores in children in drinking water that had levels of fluoride comparable to that in the United States.

The irony of Kennedy baselessly claiming that fluoridated water could hurt children is that taking fluoride out of drinking water will lead to a spike in tooth decay among children, said Dr. Bruce Dye, chair of the Department of Community Dentistry and Population Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

“This increase will be most noticeable in children over time, particularly among children living in or near poverty,” he said. “We would also expect to see an increase in poorer dental health outcomes in many rural areas given the existing dental health challenges many rural communities already experience.”

And because removing fluoride from drinking water would affect more people living in or near poverty, Dye said that would likely lead to an increase in Medicaid expenditures for vulnerable groups ― including children.

“If the mission of the CDC is to provide science-based guidance to the American people that advances our health and well-being, then the existing science continues to support that adding fluoride to water at recommended levels is safe and provides important dental health benefits, especially with helping to prevent tooth decay,” said Dye.

What happened in Calgary, Canada, is a good test case of what happens when you take appropriate levels of fluoride out of drinking water. The city council voted to remove it from the city’s water supply in 2011, only to reinstate it 10 years later. Why? The rate of people’s cavities and tooth decay “increased significantly,” according to city council member Gian-Carlo Carra, while other studies in that period showed the “meaningful benefits” of fluoride.

“If we want to do what is truly healthy for all Americans, policymakers need to review the relevant research with fluoridation levels similar to our country, like Australia, that demonstrate fluoride does not negatively impact IQ levels,” said Kessler. “The ADA relies on evidence-based research to improve the oral health of the public and stands ready to advance gold medal standards in any future studies on water fluoridation.”

Not all Republicans on Capitol Hill are giving credibility to Kennedy’s attacks on science. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who is a physician, said Tuesday he stands with the medical community in support of having fluoride in drinking water.

“The American Dental Association strongly recommends fluoride. It says it will decrease cavities as much as 25% in some populations,” said Cassidy. “It speaks for itself.”

When HuffPost noted that Kennedy thinks the opposite of what experts think, the Republican senator — who voted to confirm Kennedy to his current post — simply said, “The people who take care of teeth strongly recommend it.”

Igor Bobic contributed reporting.