US EditionWith few dentists and fluoride under siege, rural America risks new surge of tooth decay
- On March 27, 2025, KFF Health News reported that the anti-fluoride movement is gaining momentum, leading dozens of communities to stop fluoridating their water in recent months, with state officials in Florida and Texas urging the same.
- This trend occurs amidst a backdrop of nearly 25 million Americans residing in areas with dentist shortages, particularly impacting rural and poor communities that heavily rely on Medicaid for dental care.
- A government report released last summer found a possible link between lower IQ in children and fluoride consumption at levels exceeding those recommended in American drinking water, energizing the anti-fluoride movement, while Harvard research identified over 780 counties with dentist shortages and at least 230 of those also have mostly or completely unfluoridated public drinking water.
- According to Steven Levy, a leading fluoride researcher at the University of Iowa, "If you have folks with little access to professional care and no access to water fluoridation, then they are missing two of the big pillars of how to keep healthy for a lifetime,", while Andy Anderson, who has chaired the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority's board since 2007 and opposes fluoridation, said the fines for not fluoridating are stuffed in a cardboard box and left unpaid.
- Dental experts, including Catherine Hayes from Harvard and Chelsea Fosse from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, warn that the combination of Medicaid cuts and the elimination of water fluoridation could reverse decades of progress against tooth decay, especially affecting children and those with limited dental access, potentially leading to a visible increase in widespread decay within years, as predicted by Stuart Cooper.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Ohio Capital Journal
Scioto PostOhio Republican lawmakers want to ban adding fluoride — which prevents tooth decay
Drinking water photo from the Ohio Governor's Office.A group of Ohio Republican lawmakers is moving to ban the state and public water systems from adding fluoride, which prevents tooth decay and cavities, to water. The Buckeye State is known for its water benefits, dentist Dr. Matthew Messina said. “We’ve had that kind of a profound increase in public health that comes from modern dentistry and fluoride is a part of that,” Messina said. Naturall…
'Just a fact': Rural America readies for scourge of tooth decay under Trump policies
In the wooded highlands of northern Arkansas, where small towns have few dentists, water officials who serve more than 20,000 people have for more than a decade openly defied state law by refusing to add fluoride to the drinking water. For its refusal, the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority has received hundreds of state fines amounting to about $130,000, which are stuffed in a cardboard box and left unpaid, said Andy Anderson, who …
News Medical
Utah News DispatchWith few dentists and fluoride under siege, rural America risks new surge of tooth decay
In the wooded highlands of northern Arkansas, where small towns have few dentists, water officials who serve more than 20,000 people have for more than a decade openly defied state law by refusing to add fluoride to the drinking water.
kffhealthnews.org
littlebytesnews.comWith Few Dentists and Fluoride Under Siege, Rural America Risks New Surge of Tooth Decay
In the wooded highlands of northern Arkansas, where small towns have few dentists, water officials who serve more than 20,000 people have for more than a decade openly defied state law by refusing to add fluoride to the drinking water. For its refusal, the Ozark Mountain Regional Public Water Authority has received hundreds of state fines amounting to about $130,000, which are stuffed in a cardboard box and left unpaid, said Andy Anderson, who i…
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