COLUMBUS, Ohio — A group of Ohio Republican lawmakers is moving to ban the state and public water systems from adding fluoride, which prevents tooth decay and cavities, to water.
The Buckeye State is known for its water — and the benefits that dentist Dr. Matthew Messina sees from it.
"We've had that kind of a profound increase in public health that comes from modern dentistry and fluoride is a part of that," Messina said.
Naturally occurring in water, fluoride is a mineral that years of research has shown strengthens teeth and prevents cavities and tooth decay. As the four-decade-long serving dentist explains, most public water systems add fluoride.
"It's hailed as one of the top public health measures in the last century, because really, for a very low cost and very low amount of effort, the massive benefit that this produces for the community is tremendous," he said.
He has worked in communities that didn't have fluoride, he said, and the difference between children from cities and ones from rural areas that didn't have public water fluoridation was night and day.
"We got a chance to see rampant dental decay in children," he said. "It was like going back to the dark ages, so I really hope we'd never go back there again."
There has always been a back-and-forth for decades on fluoride, much like vaccines. In recent years, there has been a campaign to push back on the mineral in water.
Although U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not a doctor, he has argued that the mineral is toxic.
"Fluoride is an industrial waste," he wrote on X.
The effort has trickled down to Ohio.
State Rep. Levi Dean (R-Xenia) has proposed House Bill 182, which would ban public water systems from adding fluoride.
"It just says that individuals can then choose whether they want to ingest it or not — it's not forced on them," Dean told me.
Current law requires water systems to fluoridate water if the natural content is less than .8 milligrams per liter.
"It's just for some people for health reasons or just even for individual freedom reasons, they don't want the local governments to force this into their drinking water," he said.
Dean and his GOP cosponsors want to prohibit this requirement. He argued that fluoride is bad for you. I asked him where he got this idea from since dozens upon dozens of research papers for decades disagree.
He cited a recent research study sharing that fluoride may be linked to lower IQ in children.
A study published by JAMA Pediatrics in January did a review and meta-analysis of whether exposure to fluoride was associated with kids' IQ scores.
The authors found that there is a link between slightly lower IQ in children that have more exposure to the mineral.
But Messina explained that this research article is being taken out of context.
"It brings up a study of parts of the world where naturally occurring fluoride levels are much higher than in most of the United States, and they're higher than the target levels that we have set," the dentist said.
Looking into the paper, the authors acknowledged that a majority of the studies they looked at were considered “highly biased,” none of the data is from the United States, and that there was "uncertainty in the dose-response association.”
When the fluoride in the water was less than 1.5 mg/L, the link wasn't apparent. As mentioned, Ohio has a cap of .8 mg/L.
"Now, there's disagreement on the concentration of where that starts and how, but that's why I think it should be up to the individual to choose what levels they engage with fluoride at," Dean said.
The lawmaker argued that if people really want fluoride, they can buy toothpaste, tablets, or drops.
"I'm not arguing with the fact that it could be beneficial to some people for dental health," he said. "I'm arguing with the fact that should we be ingesting it, if the benefit is for your teeth, shouldn't you be applying it just to the teeth and not consuming it?"
Toothpaste has significantly more fluoride than water does, which is why you are told to spit it out, according to the CDC.
The Republican continued that this is about Ohioans having a choice — just like he does, as he uses fluoride-free toothpaste.
"What kind of concerns do you have with Ohio considering to remove fluoride from all public water?" I asked Messina.
"Well, if Ohio did that, we would be stepping back in time," he responded. "We have a known beneficial, preventative part of our tool kit, and for us to continue to go forward without that — we're really leaving one of our best weapons behind."
Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) seemed interested in the proposal because when asked if the state should keep fluoride in public water, he acknowledged that he "didn't know."
"Fluoride naturally occurs in water, I just found that out this week," he said. "They started adding it."
He said that people over the past few years have been "dismissed."
"Now there appears to be some science that says too much fluoride, including adding fluoride, is bad for folks," he said. "I'm not a scientist, I'm not a chemist... We're going to sort of litigate that question... in the legislature here over the next couple of months. I don't know the answer to your question."
House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington), whose background is in public health, was not thrilled to hear about the bill.
"I entirely support fluoride in water," she said, noting that the benefits are clear in dental health.
I asked her if she saw this as an effort to privatize water.
"I see this as a basic human right," she continued. "I think the expectation of every household in this country is that you have access to clean tap water in your households."
Gov. Mike DeWine, who is routinely against non-doctors making health decisions, is not commenting on this bill yet.
Knowing the governor, this would not be out of the realm of a possible veto. He consistently states that he supports science, vaccines, best practices of doctors in gender-affirming care, prevention of tobacco for kids and the stopping of medical misinformation.
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