Split commission votes to keep fluoridating water after dentists rebut surgeon general
After the Delray Beach City Commission voted to continue fluoridating the city’s drinking water, dental hygienist Linda Reichman resumed the discussion with Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By John Pacenti
Don’t mess with the dentists.
After Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said the practice of adding fluoride to the municipal drinking water system was “public health malpractice,” a group of dentists rebutted him at the Feb. 4 Delray Beach City Commission meeting.
The commission voted 3-2 against a motion made by Commissioner Angela Burns to end fluoridation of the city’s drinking water, which the city has been doing for 36 years to prevent tooth decay. Mayor Tom Carney and Burns were the “yes” votes.
Ladapo told commissioners that studies have shown that fluoride affects neurological development in children, resulting in low IQ scores. He said the National Toxicology Program at the Department of Health and Human Services looked at between 60 and 70 studies.
Researchers found a relationship between fluoride and lower intelligence. “Not by a little bit, but actually substantially,” said Ladapo, who has also called for a halt on the use of the COVID-19 vaccine. “Also, potentially, behavior changes, things like ADHD, hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“There are dozens of studies that have shown this adverse relationship,” he said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, has also condemned fluoridation.
A small group of dentists from Boca Raton — which does not add fluoride to its water — attended the commission meeting to counter Ladapo’s recommendation.
Dentists rebut Ladapo
Jeffrey Ganeles, a board-certified periodontist, said the studies on which Ladapo relied were done outside of the United States where the fluoride levels were much higher. He said tooth decay is no small thing, often cascading from a single filling that over time fails, requiring a root canal, a crown, a bridge or a dental implant.
Boca Raton periodontist Dr. Jeffrey Ganeles spoke on behalf of fluoride treatment of drinking water during the commission meeting.
“I can usually tell within minutes whether a new patient grew up in an area of fluoridated water,” Ganeles said. “People with a mouthful of fillings, crowns and missing teeth almost certainly did not, while those with only a few small fillings likely had fluoridated water as kids.”
Richard Kitt, also a dentist in Boca Raton, cited another study that recommended the status quo. “I’ve seen what it (fluoridation) does and also in areas of underprivileged people not getting fluoride in the water during tooth development,” he said.
Navigating conflicting waters
Communities throughout Florida have stopped putting fluoride in the water. The issue came up in Delray Beach because the equipment to put the additive in the water needs to be replaced if the practice is to continue.
Angela Hill, one of a few city residents to speak at the commission meeting, urged the city to discontinue the practice. She said the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to the additive’s ties in some studies to neurological disorders like ADHD.
“I would rather my boys have no teeth and dentures than for them to be on medication for the rest of their lives,” she said. “I would much rather have a healthy mind and a steadfast child than to have someone with pretty teeth.”
But Commissioner Rob Long said he changed his mind after speaking to the dentists and reading their material.
“There’s also an argument to say that if we took fluoride out of the water, the folks who are the most underserved in the community would be the ones who suffer the most, and so I do think we do have a responsibility to look out for those folks,” he said.
Commissioner Tom Markert said at the Feb. 4 meeting he was leaning toward keeping the fluoride in the tap water but wanted a workshop on the issue to learn about alternatives.
“This one is a jump ball. It just is. You know, the federal agencies are split in terms of their recommendations to us, that’s bad,” he said. “The medical communities are split. That’s not good. I ran around my neighborhood over the weekend, and my neighbors are all split on this.”
Commissioner Burns, however, was unequivocal in her position to end fluoridation, saying families should have a choice whether to use fluoride.
“I think there are many ways that we can get fluoride to students in the schools, in the home, and I don’t think that it should be forced upon them in the water,” she said.
Carney agreed, saying fluoride can be added now in any number of ways.
“When fluoridation first came out, it was largely because the communities which were spread out and really didn’t have the access to the same dental care, the same opportunities to have fluoride,” Carney said. “But you know, today there are fluoride pills that are free. Everyone’s using fluoride toothpaste.”
Ladapo lost Delray Beach, but on the same day won on the issue when Lee County commissioners voted to remove fluoride.
“It’s insane to continue to support this with the information that we have now,” Ladapo said in Lee County earlier that day. “And you know, who suffers the most? Well, so far, it’s children and pregnant women.”
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