Local doctor weighs in on impact of potential ban of fluoride from public water supplies

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he’s putting together a task force to study the potential ban of fluoride from public water supplies due to health concerns. But many medical experts argue the benefits of fluoride far outweigh any concerns.

The Monroe County Water Authority has added fluoride to the water supply for decades. The level of fluoride is adjusted to what it calls “an optimal concentration” of 0.7 mg/L. Water samples are collected daily for testing to ensure the levels remain within that range.

“These levels of fluoridation have been studied many, many times,” explains Dr. Marielena Vélez de Brown, the Monroe County Health Commissioner. “This is one of the kind of primary preventions on an entire population level because it doesn’t matter if you have access to a dentist, it doesn’t matter if you can afford super over-fluoridated toothpaste everyone can have access to this intervention to protect the health of their teeth.”

Dr. Cathy Goodfellow, a local pediatrician, emphasized the importance of fluoride in preventing cavities and reducing oral health disparities so long as its in the right concentration.

“Fluoride in large amounts is not healthy and not good for the children so when you have very little control over when they get it, that can be a problem,” Dr. Goodfellow says.

Goodfellow explained that fluoride in the water supply helps regulate a child’s intake if they drink tap water.

“I see far too many children who end up on the OR because they have to have restore work and they have 20 cavities or they have 4 caps and they need… and it takes them literally a year to get that all done,” says Dr. Goodfellow.

Utah recently became the first state to ban fluoride, with other states and local communities considering similar measures. Concerns include potential health issues and lower IQs in children.

The Village of Albion in Orleans County is currently debating the removal of fluoride from its public water supply.

A review published in January in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics found a statistically significant association between higher fluoride exposure and lower IQ scores in children. However, the authors noted these studies were “low-quality” and conducted outside the United States, where fluoride levels tend to be higher.

“In today’s climate where we are struggling to find pediatric dentists who will accept Medicaid the need for protecting those populations through every different mechanism is even higher than before, so this is not the time to start thinking about reducing the amount of protective fluoride that is added to the water,” says Dr. Marielena Vélez de Brown.

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