Latest news with #LisaSimon
Yahoo
a day 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.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Removing fluoride from public drinking water may lead to millions more cavities in US children, study estimates
The longstanding public health practice of adding fluoride to public drinking water systems in the United States is facing new challenges and bans in some places, and experts have warned that the change would come with significant costs – both to the health of children and the health care system. A new modeling study, published Friday in JAMA Health Forum, estimates that removing fluoride from public water in the US would lead to 25.4 million excess decayed teeth in children and adolescents within five years, along with $9.8 billion in health care costs. After 10 years, these impacts would more than double to nearly 54 million excess decayed teeth and $19.4 billion in costs. That translates to one additional decayed tooth for every three children in the US – but the costs wouldn't be spread evenly, said Dr. Lisa Simon, an internal medicine physician with Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-author of the new study. 'We know that the people who have the most benefit from fluoride are people who otherwise struggle to access dental care,' says Simon, who has been researching dental policy for a decade. 'When we think about those 25 million decayed teeth, they're much more likely to appear in the mouths of children who are publicly insured by Medicaid or come from otherwise low-income families.' Fluoride is a mineral that can be found naturally in some foods and groundwater. It can help prevent tooth decay by strengthening the protective outer layer of enamel that can be worn away by acids formed by bacteria, plaque and sugars in the mouth. Adding fluoride to public water systems started in the US in 1945 and has been hailed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the 10 greatest health interventions in America in the 20th century In 2022, close to two-thirds of the US population was served by community water systems that had fluoride added to them, according to CDC data. But US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in April that he would tell the CDC to stop recommending that fluoride be added to public drinking water, and lawmakers in two states – Utah and Florida – have banned the practice this year. To estimate the effects of removing fluoride from community water, Simon and co-author Dr. Sung Eun Choi from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine assessed clinical oral health data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to create a nationally representative sample of US children. At baseline, the data showed that about 1 in 5 children between the ages of 2 and 5 were estimated to have dental caries, a chronic infectious disease involving tooth decay and cavities, along with more than half of children ages 6 to 12 and more than 57% of teenagers. But removing fluoride would raise those prevalence rates by more than 7 percentage points, the researchers found. 'This is a huge cost for our country and it's all avoidable. There is no better replacement for the time-tested, doctor trusted use of fluoride in community water programs,' Dr. Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, said in a statement. 'No amount of political rhetoric or misinformation will change that good oral health depends on proper nutrition, oral hygiene and optimally fluoridated water, or fluoride supplements if community water programs lack fluoride.' On the campaign trail last fall, Kennedy called fluoride 'industrial waste' and claimed that exposure has resulted in a wide variety of health problems, including cancer – claims that both the American Cancer Society and the CDC have disagreed with. And in April, HHS and the US Environmental Protection Agency announced that they would study the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water – a review centered around a government study from last year concluding that higher levels of fluoride are linked to lowered IQ in children. In the new modeling study, researchers found that only about 1.5% of US children in 2016 had exposure to this excess level of fluoride – considered to be above 1.5 milligrams per liter – that posed risk for fluorosis, a condition that leaves streaks or spots on teeth, or other harms. Meanwhile, about 40% of US children had access to optimal fluoride levels that effectively prevent tooth decay – between 0.6 and 1.5 milligrams per liter – while about 46% had access to even lower levels. The authors of the new study did not assess the neurocognitive effects of fluoride because 'current federal guidance does not find an association' at the levels used in public drinking water. They found that removing fluoride would only help prevent about 200,000 cases of fluorosis over five years. Tooth decay can mean a lot of things, Simon said, but their model was picking up cases that would likely need at least a filling along with severe cavities that could turn into a root canal or a tooth extraction – the costs of which would be borne by families, insurers and the government. 'Talking about money, which is really important, is only one way to measure that cost,' Simon said. 'It's also a cost in terms of children being in pain, children not being able to eat, children missing school or not being able to pay attention in school because their teeth hurt, parents missing work, children losing teeth that are supposed to stay with them for their entire lives, and those children growing into older adults who are more likely to be missing teeth with all of the health consequences that entails.' Forecasts in the new modeling study mirror real-life impacts that were measured in other parts of the world after fluoride was removed from drinking water. Calgary, Alberta, stopped putting fluoride in its water in 2011, and a study found that children there had more cavities than those in cities that kept fluoride. Calgary will resume fluoridation this year. Simon worries the effects in the US might be even greater because of health inequities that are especially pronounced in the dental care system. 'We've had fluoridated water for so long and it's worked so well that we've stopped appreciating the amazing things it's done,' she said. 'When something has been a success story for 80 years … you don't know which kid never got a cavity because they were exposed to fluoride, and we don't know which older adults aren't wearing dentures because of that.'
CTV News
23-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
New Medical Officer at Simcoe County District Health Unit
Lisa Simon has been named the new Medical Officer of Health at Simcoe County District Health Unit.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
RCC students earn awards at Minnesota SkillsUSA competitions
Apr. 29—Riverland Community College students earned multiple awards and national qualifications at the recent Minnesota SkillsUSA competitions, showcasing excellence in technical education across several career pathways. The competitions were held over two weekends and brought together top students from across the state to compete in real-world, hands-on challenges aligned with their career programs. Riverland students competed in commercial roofing, carpentry, cosmetology, esthetics, nail technology, job interview, and facility management. Among the highlights: —Sam Oelfke took first place in the Commercial Roofing competition, held March 28 at Allweather Roof in Austin. Oelfke earned a $500 gift card to Runnings and secured a spot at the SkillsUSA National Championships this June in Atlanta, Georgia. —Ywa Say placed second in Commercial Roofing, winning a $300 gift card to Runnings. —Marshall Burma earned second place in the Carpentry competition on April 5, at the Carpenter's Training Institute in Saint Paul. He was awarded a 25-foot tape measure and a professional level set. Cosmetology students also stood out: —Lilly Vadeer took second place in the Cosmetology competition and earned gold in the Facilithon Leadership event. Her first-place finish in Facilithon secured her a spot at the National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC). She will also represent Minnesota as a voting delegate and state officer. —Cassie Britt won first place in Esthetics (with her model Sadie Sledd) and will advance to NLSC. —Ava Vickerman claimed first place in the Nail Technology competition (with model Hailey Lovejoy) and will also compete at the national level. In addition, Riverland students achieved state-level recognition in multiple categories: —Gold medals in Nail Technology, Esthetics, and Facilithon —Silver and Bronze in Job Interview —Silver in Cosmetology —Silver in Carpentry —Gold and Silver in Commercial Roofing Riverland is also proud to celebrate Lisa Simon, Cosmetology Instructor, who was named the 2025 College Advisor of the Year for her outstanding mentorship and student support. SkillsUSA advisors include Zachary Smith (Carpentry), Lisa Simon and Jessi Studnicka (Cosmetology). "These results are a testament to the talent, work ethic, and preparation of our students and the dedicated faculty and staff who support them," said Dr. Kat Linaker, President of Riverland Community College. "We are incredibly proud to see Riverland students rise to the top in statewide competitions and move forward to represent Minnesota at the national level." SkillsUSA is a national organization that empowers students to become world-class workers and leaders in their fields. The SkillsUSA Championships are the largest showcase of skilled trades and technical education in the country.
