Dentists weigh in on the safety of fluoride in drinking water
MIAMI - The ongoing debate over the safety of fluoride is prompting a Florida county to consider removing it from their drinking water. Lee County, on the state's west coast, will discuss the issue on Tuesday.
Nayra Sanchez has two daughters, ages two and five, so when she heard about a recent government report connecting high levels of fluoride exposure with IQ loss in children, she went to her family pediatric dentist, Dr. Fabiola Ortega with Elite Smiles Pediatric Dentistry for answers.
"You want to be using a pea size amount of fluoride twice a day. You want to brush her teeth for two minutes then have her spit," Dr. Ortega told Sanchez.
Sanchez said after talking to Dr. Ortega and looking into the research, she doesn't have any concerns.
"As a mother, I am okay with using fluoride with my children," said Sanchez.
Dr. Ortega said she is working to educate her clients about fluoride. She said there is a lot of misinformation and her message to worried parents is that the fluoride in U.S. water is safe.
"Since the water fluoridation is highly, highly regulated, I think it's safe for us to continue to consume and it provides care to kids that do not have the ability to come to the dentist who don't have access to care," said Dr. Ortega.
The new concerns come after state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo announced guidance against adding fluoride to water last November.
"We are issuing guidance to every community, every municipality, every county in Florida, to stop adding fluoride to their community water systems," said Dr. Ladapo.
In response to the state surgeon general's request, Florida cities, including Ormond Beach, Melbourne, Naples, Stuart and Port St. Lucie have removed fluoride from their water. Delray Beach is considering it.
On social media, people are sounding off on the debate.
My dentist does not recommend fluoride. Yep, you heard that right; my dentist does not recommend fluoride," said one person who posted.
"Around 2016 I stopped using fluoride. A follower messaged me and said that the government was mass medicating Americans and it was ruining our brain development," another posted.
Dr. Brian Nitzberg with Miami Best Dental joined Dr. Ortega said that he feels the issue has been politicized.
"Recently RFK Junior started talking about it and it became a little bit more politicized, and more people are asking questions because a big study just came out looking at other studies in other countries like Mexico, India, and China, where they found decreasing IQ in children that had high fluoride content in their water," said Dr. Nitzberg.
Dr. Nitzberg said if you are concerned about too much fluoride in your children's water, there are signs you can look for.
"The first sign of too much fluoride is dental fluorosis on your teeth. Fluorosis stains look like little brown stains on your teeth and that's a sign that you are getting a little too much fluoride and that could be a sign to dial it back a little bit," said Dr. Nitzberg.
He also says you can alternate with a hydroxyapatite toothpaste; that's a fluoride-free toothpaste option for your child.