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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cavities in children could increase by millions if fluoride is banned, study suggests
The Brief An estimated 25.4 million more teeth will result in tooth decay in the next five years if fluoride is banned from the U.S. public water supply, according to a recent model simulation. The study also predicted an estimated $9.8 billion will be spent on additional dental care over the next five years. Some states like Utah and Florida have already banned fluoride from the state's public water supply. Researchers created a model to estimate the impact a ban on fluoride in the United States water supply would have on children's dental health and the results are bleak. The simulations estimated that a ban would result in tooth decay in 25.4 million more teeth, which is equivalent to a decayed tooth for one out of every three children over the next five years. The results were published in Jama Health Forum on May 30. "There's strong evidence from other countries and cities, such as Calgary in Canada, showing that when fluoride is eliminated, dental disease increases. Our study offers a window into what would happen in the United States if water fluoridation ceased," Lisa Simon, MD, DMD, and senior author of the study, said. Why you should care Not only would eliminating fluoride increase the occurrence of tooth decay, but the estimated cost of dental care would rise exponentially, according to the study. By the numbers The models simulated the potential dental care costs over five and 10 years. $9.8 billion in additional dental care costs over five years $19.4 billion in additional dental care costs over 10 years "Most of the increased cost could be attributed to publicly insured children, meaning it would be a direct public health cost," said Simon. Dig deeper Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and in 1962 set guidelines for how much should be added to water. Fluoride can come from several sources, but drinking water is the main one for Americans, researchers say. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century. The American Dental Association credits it with reducing tooth decay by more than 25% in children and adults. About one-third of community water systems — 17,000 out of 51,000 across the U.S. — serving more than 60% of the population fluoridated their water, according to a 2022 CDC analysis. What they're saying "We know fluoride works. We're able to show just how much it works for most communities and how much people stand to lose if we get rid of it," said Simon. Big picture view U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants communities to stop fluoridating water, and he is setting the gears of government in motion to help make that happen. Kennedy has said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. And he said he's assembling a task force of health experts to study the issue and make new recommendations. Two states have already banned adding fluoride to public water systems. These include Florida and Utah. The Source Information for this article was taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, a study that observed oral health and water fluoridation data collected from 8,484 children aged 0-19 which was published in JAMA on May 30, 2025, a Mass General Brigham news release about the study, and reporting by The Associated Press. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Study shows rise in children's cavities if US removed fluoride from water
A new study published in Jama Health Forum estimates that if the US were to remove fluoride from public drinking water supplies – as Donald Trump's health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has advocated – American children would suffer an additional 25.4m cavities in five years. The additional cases represent a 7.5% increase in cavities, an added cost of $9.8bn and the loss of 2.9m quality-adjusted life years. Those cases would disproportionately be borne by children most at-risk for tooth decay – those on public health insurance or who lack insurance entirely. 'We know fluoride is remarkably effective at preventing tooth decay – it's one of the great public health success stories of the 20th century,' said Dr Lisa Simon, assistant professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and a dentist and an internist. However, she added, the US did not 'have great numbers to say: 'What is the value of all of that? What would happen if we were to take it all away?'' The study comes as Kennedy has made the end of water fluoridation a major policy of his time as the president's health secretary. Fluoride was most recently featured in the 'Maha report', led by Kennedy and published amid fanfare by the White House last week. The report was later found to have invented citations and mischaracterized research. Although the Maha report correctly characterized a recent metaanalysis on the dangers of high levels of fluoride, it downplayed fluoride's protective effects and did not comment further on cavities – a chronic condition that affects almost half of American kids. The new study finds that if fluoride were eliminated from water supplies, there would be 'one newly decayed tooth for every third child in America', Simon said. To conduct the new study, Simon and her coauthor, Harvard assistant professor of oral health and epidemiology Sung Choi, used nationally representative data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). They then used a statistical model to estimate the cost and prevalence of tooth decay in children aged 0-19-years-old after both five and 10 years. The data examined was from 2013-16 and the analysis was conducted between November and February this year. Kennedy argues the US should stop fluoridating water on the basis that it can negatively impact IQ, which is true at very high levels. At a recent stop in Utah Kennedy said: 'The evidence against fluoride is overwhelming.' Evidence that fluoride causes harm is not, in fact, overwhelming – though the science is nuanced. The best current evidence follows a medical adage: the dose makes the poison. Recent research shows that high levels of fluoride can have neurotoxic effects. However, those harms have not been found at levels below 1.5 parts per million – more than twice the level recommended by the CDC (0.7 parts per million). Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion In his tenure, Kennedy has instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to review its guidance on fluoride, which still promotes its use in community water systems; eliminated the CDC's office of oral health, which made those recommendations; and acted as a cheerleader to states like Utah, which have banned fluoride. 'We're talking about quite low, very safe, very regulated levels of water fluoridation,' said Simon, adding that documented neurotoxic effects are at rates '10-15 times what people are exposed to in public water fluoridation.'
