Florida's false choices on fluoride in the water supply

[Zorro]

Weak research and paranoia are driving a public-health decision.

Last week’s Clearwater City Council meeting reminded me (again) that while the pandemic is over, the damage is not.

Council members heard a presentation Monday on the merits of fluoridating the drinking water supply. I call it a “presentation,” for lack of a better term, because it was brief, superficial and featured only three speakers — a supporter, a skeptic, and one against, including Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general, who appeared as part of his continuing campaign to halt fluoridation in Florida.

Communities across the U.S. have added fluoride to their water since 1945, which dentists widely credit for reducing cavities and improving Americans’ overall health. The practice is recommended by nearly every public health, medical and dental organization, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has named fluoridation as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.

But the backlash against masks and vaccines during the pandemic has made some people view public health guidance as a conspiracy. That fury turned on fluoridation last year, after a new federal report and a California federal judge questioned the safety of fluoridated water. Ladapo said the developments presented Clearwater officials with a simple decision: Either believe these new studies are “junk science” or “you have to be comfortable with harming some people in your community.”

That, of course, is a false choice, yet it’s becoming the new tactic in scaring Floridians about fluoride.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/04/03/floridas-false-choices-fluoride-water-supply-column/