Oklahoma health agency scrubs mention of fluoride in water as Gov. Stitt orders review
As of May 2025, the state health department still endorsed the program and published data about why fluoridation is important for health outcomes, archived versions of the program's landing page show. However, that information has now been deleted from the department's website.
The now-deleted state web page described fluoride as "safe, cost-effective and beneficial to all who drink and use the water." It credited fluoride use with a "remarkable decline in the prevalence and severity of dental decay."
Erica Rankin-Riley, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the governor's office did not direct the department to remove the page, but the decision was made in anticipation of his executive order. Stitt signed an executive order on June 26 that requires the department to immediately cease any promotion or endorsement of fluoridation until new a new set of recommendations can be developed. That report is due within 90 days.
"I'm instructing the Oklahoma Department of Health to stop recommending fluoride in our water," Stitt said at a news conference alongside U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "Cities and water districts, they can still choose what they want based on their constituents and the science, but it's no longer going to be a recommendation from the state health department."
The ultimate effect of Stitt's executive order remains to be seen. Water fluoridation has always been a local decision, but one that was based on federal and state recommendations. While local water systems will still be able to add fluoride to their water, the political shift could push some communities to abandon the practice.
What is fluoride? Why health experts maintain that it's 'safe and effective'
What is fluoride? What are its benefits?
Fluoride – a naturally occurring mineral found in water, soil, air, and various foods – helps prevent dental cavities and tooth decay. The mineral has been added to public water supplies for decades in the United States and to dental products, such as toothpaste, as a dental cavities prevention measure.
Fluoride works by strengthening the tooth's enamel, its hard outer surface, making it more resistant to the acid produced by bacteria in the mouth that causes tooth decay, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Fluoride also reverses early tooth decay by replacing and preventing the loss of minerals.
Before the start of community water fluoridation, dental decay and cavities were widespread and impacted the entire population of the United States, according to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Public health officials later recommended water fluoridation after research showed fluoride could reduce tooth decay.
The CDC has called the fluoridation of drinking water one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, during which Americans' life expectancies rose by 30 years.
More than 100 health organizations, including the CDC, American Medical Association, World Health Organization, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Dental Association, maintain that water fluoridation is safe and effective. Studies show that community water fluoridation reduces tooth decay by more than 25% in children and adults, even in an era with widespread availability of fluoride from dental products, according to the American Dental Association.
Real-world examples of cities abandoning fluoridation support the prevailing scientific consensus that the practice prevents tooth decay.
After the Canadian city of Calgary and Juneau, Alaska, stopped adding fluoride to their water systems, researchers discovered that children developed significantly more cavities. After 10 years without fluoride, Calgary's government voted to bring it back.
2 states have now passed fluoride bans. These other ones introduced bills.
RFK Jr.'s push to ban fluoride in water
Fluoride skepticism has existed in the United States since the first policy recommendations were written in 1951. It largely remained a fringe opposition movement rooted in conspiracy theories, but in recent years, fluoride skepticism has gained traction in conservative circles.
Questions over the use of fluoride in public water supplies have been amplified in recent months by Kennedy, who President Donald Trump picked to oversee the nation's health agenda.
Earlier this year, Kennedy claimed that fluoride makes Americans "stupider," citing a study that has been criticized by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the American Dental Association for inadequate statistical rigor and other methodological flaws.
Kennedy also said in April that he would tell the CDC to stop recommending that cities and states add fluoride to public water systems. Adding fluoride to water is not required by law.
Some states have already pulled back on fluoridation. Utah became the first state to ban fluoride in public water systems after Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation in March. The law went into effect May 7.
Florida became the second state to ban fluoride from being added to public water supplies after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law in May. The new law is scheduled to take effect July 1.
Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, and Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY
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