Oral health in the U.S. could decline further if states and cities move forward with fluoride bans, according to Barry Lyon, DDS.
Several states are weighing legislation to ban community water fluoridation, with Utah and Florida recently becoming the first states to enact such laws.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also continuously criticized fluoride, and recently announced plans to advise the CDC to stop recommending adding fluoride to public water supplies.
Dr. Lyon, the dental director for Main Street Children’s Dentistry and Orthodontics and the chief clinical auditor for Dental Care Alliance, spoke with Becker’s about how other countries are advancing fluoridation measures to improve the health outcomes of their residents.
Editor’s note: This Q&A is part of a weekly series featuring Dr. Lyon focused on topics in the dental industry and DSO field. The views expressed are those of Dr. Lyon and do not necessarily reflect those of Main Street Children’s Dentistry and Orthodontics or Dental Care Alliance.
This response was lightly edited for clarity and length.
Dr. Barry Lyon:
I had the genuine privilege of hearing Dr. Gordon Christensen speak at a Dental Care Alliance event in Nashville last week. If there’s anyone who everyone listens to when he speaks, it is Dr. Christensen. Among the many pearls of wisdom uttered by him, one thing stands out for me. Dr. Christensen said, “there has been more research on [the safety of] fluoride than research on cancer, heart disease and stroke, combined.” I would normally consider a statement like this as an exaggeration but not coming from someone like him. The dental profession is being held hostage because of one individual’s baseless claims.
While some U.S. states and communities are planning to remove fluoride from community water supplies, the United Kingdom is considering extending water fluoridation to 1.6 million more people. The U.K.’s Department for Health and Social Care predicts in one county alone, for every £1 spent on fluoridation, they expect to save £13 after five years. France does not fluoridate their water supplies. Instead, they allow for the addition of fluoride to salt. Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Mexico do the same. Japan doesn’t fluoridate its water. Instead, there are school-based fluoride rinse programs. China has areas with fluoride levels too high, leading to defluoridation programs and a national limit of 1mg/L. Russia started water fluoridation in some locations in the mid-1960s at levels considered safe at 0.8-1.0 parts per million. They have also implemented fluoridated milk programs.
While the United States has been the gold standard for quality healthcare, the world now sees us moving backwards, based more on one man’s opinion rather than science, even though dental caries remains the most prevalent, and most preventable, chronic disease in adults and children.
