--- title: "When They Took Fluoride Out of the Water Like RFK Jr. Wants to Do Everywhere, People’s Teeth Started Rotting Out of Their Heads" description: "An Alaskan city removed fluoride from its drinking water like RFK wants to do for the whole country — and tooth decay surged." date: "2024-11-29" modified: "2024-11-29" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/rfk-fluoride-water-tooth-rot" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "dental health" - "fluoride" - "rfk" --- # When They Took Fluoride Out of the Water Like RFK Jr. Wants to Do Everywhere, People’s Teeth Started Rotting Out of Their Heads ![An Alaskan city removed fluoride from its drinking water like RFK wants to do for the whole country — and tooth decay surged.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Our next potential leader of US health policy, [Robert F. Kennedy Jr](), wants to ban adding fluoride to public drinking water — a practice that experts agree has remarkably elevated teeth health for millions of Americans at little cost. In a country where many people don't have access to dental care, a widespread crackdown on this naturally occurring mineral could be a disaster. To see how, we turn to the sobering case of Juneau, a city in Alaska that voted to stop fluoridating its water in 2007, citing many of the same fears that RFK touts today. In a 2018 [study published in the journal *BMC Oral Health*](), researchers examined the dental records of adolescents in the Alaska community who sought Medicaid dental care in the years surrounding either side of the ban. They divided them into two treatment groups: a 2003 group, when public drinking water had optimal levels of fluoride, and a 2012 group, well after the fluoride ban. The [results were damning](). On average, the 2012 group had a significantly higher number of cavity-related procedures for adolescents than the 2003 group. Similarly, the odds of someone 18 years-old or younger undergoing the same type of procedure was 25 percent higher in 2012. Children born after the fluoride ban were the hardest hit age group, receiving not only the most tooth decay treatments, but also having the most expensive treatments on average. Additionally on the economic side of things, the researchers found that dental care costs for adolescents soared by 73 percent as a result of the fluoride policy, even after adjusting for inflation. In sum, it seems clear cut that removing fluoride caused tooth rot to surge — and with it, medical costs. Today, nearly three-quarters of the US population has access to fluoridated water, reducing tooth decay in children and adults by [**an estimated** 25 percent](). The US Centers for Disease Control has hailed fluoridation as one of the [top ten greatest public health interventions]() in history. So why does RFK, who was nominated by president-elect Donald Trump to be the head of the Department of Health and Human Services, want to ban it? Well, according to him and [other critics](), fluoride is dangerous "industrial waste" that's associated with everything from IQ loss to cancer. While fluoride does have its complications, RFK's criticisms haven't been proven or are overblown — and most of fluoridation's drawbacks come from doses that are extremely high compared to the amount added to public water. According [to *Scientific American*]()*,* at three times the recommended level in water, fluoride can cause a condition called dental fluorosis, which damages — typically cosmetically — the developing teeth of young children. It can also cause more serious and painful skeletal fluorosis, but that's exceedingly rare. As far as the effects on a child's mental acuity goes, the evidence is highly disputed. A 2024 [review]() conducted by the US National Toxicology Program linked high levels of fluoride to lower IQs in children — but the study only focused on the effects of fluoride at twice the recommended level in the US, and couldn't draw as strong a link at reasonable fluoride concentrations. It also failed to pass scientific review *twice*, and bypassed independent review on its most recent version, per *SciAm*. In short, there's not nearly enough evidence yet to justify a nationwide ban on fluoridation — and plenty of evidence to show it'd be a bad idea. **More on RFK:** *[If You Take Adderall, RFK Jr. Should Probably Make You Quite Nervous]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()