As President Donald Trump takes office, he has selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as his secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has been outspoken on various health issues, notably advocating for the end of the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water.
Adding the mineral fluoride to drinking water has been practiced since 1945, and according to PubMed Central, has saved an estimated almost $6.8 billion in dental costs throughout the course of a year. This equates to approximately $32.19 per person for a total of 211 million individuals in the U.S.
Students at NSU have voiced their concerns about the implications of such policies on the drinking water.
“I am worried about it since fluoride has been proven to help prevent tooth decay. I do not know if it would affect me as much because I brush and floss often, but I feel like it would probably affect more low-income people as well as sometimes, they may not have the access to better dental care,” said Matei Popescu, junior biology major.
Mark Cayabyab, faculty member of the NSU College of Dental Medicine and researcher on the oral microbiome, says that while fluoride may be beneficial, there are drawbacks of having it in water.
“Fluoride has been well-established to prevent cavities, because it kills the bacteria in the mouth that cause gingivitis and other diseases. That said, you are also destroying your other bacteria, and there are good and bad bacteria. You might be preventing cavities, but you are also harming the beneficial bacteria. Even in your gut microbiome as well,” Cayabyab said. “In my research, the more diverse an individual’s oral microbiome is, the more anti-viral factors are present that can possibly even prevent certain diseases like COVID-19.”
Cayabyab calls into question the testing regulations and how closely the levels are monitored.
“In our waters right now, it is hard to know how tightly regulated it is. Are they checking it or monitoring it down stream? There is a certain protocol for adding fluoride in the water systems, but there should be a follow-up in people’s homes to know if it is in safe levels,” Cayabyab said.
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