New Law Might Not Have Teeth
I recently wrote about how Utah was poised to become the first state to pass a law requiring app stores to verify users’ ages and get parental consent for minors to download apps to their devices. The aim of the new measure is to protect children from the harms of social media. Well, Utah is allegedly less concerned about protecting kids from cavities.
A bill that was recently passed by both houses of the state’s congress would put a full ban on fluoride in public water systems. If passed, the law would be the first of its kind in the U.S. and would take the decision out of the hands of local cities and communities.
On January 25, 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first community to implement water fluoridation, or the addition of fluoride to drinking water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asserts the practice strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by making the enamel more resistant to acid and promoting remineralization.
Recently appointed federal Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously expressed skepticism about water fluoridation. In a post on X in November, he said that “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.”
The American Dental Association, the American Medical Association, and the World Health Organization, however, support water fluoridation, claiming it is safe and the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay. Further, the CDC includes water fluoridation as one of 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century (along with vaccinations, infectious disease control and motor vehicle safety).
As of 2012, almost 75% of the U.S. population is served by fluoridated community water systems. According to the CDC, however, Utah ranked 44th in the nation for the percentage of residents that receive fluoridated water, at about 40%. An Associated Press report showed that out of the 484 Utah water systems that reported data to the CDC in 2024, only 66 fluoridated their water, the largest was the state’s biggest city, Salt Lake City.
In 2023, voters in Brigham City, north of Salt Lake City, struck down a measure that would have removed fluoride from its public water supplies. The proposal was defeated by more than a two-to-one margin.
Lawmakers who backed Utah’s bill, which was sponsored by state Representative Stephanie Gricius and state Senator Kirk Cullimore, said putting fluoride in the water is too expensive. “I don’t dispute that there can be positive benefits from fluoride, which is why the bill also includes a deregulation of the prescription,” Gricius said. “This isn’t anti-fluoride legislation, it is pro-informed consent and individual choice.”
The ADA, though, argues that fluoridating the water supply is an extremely cost-effective public health method to help prevent cavities. The average cost per year for U.S. communities to fluoridate the water ranges from $.50 per person for large communities to $3.00 per person for small communities. The ADA cites a report from the U.S. Surgeon General in 2000 which estimated that 51 million school hours and 164 million work hours are lost each year because of dental-related illness. Without water fluoridation, that number would likely be much higher. Accordingly, the ADA believes that not adding fluoride to water supplies will end up being far more expensive.
The bill now heads to Governor Spencer Cox for signature.
To recognize Gricius and Cullimore sponsoring the bill, they each got a little plaque.
Reg P. Wydeven
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