MIAMI – Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general, spoke to Miami-Dade commissioners Tuesday about water fluoridation. He was invited to address the Safety and Health Committee by Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez, its chair.
The county has added fluoride to tap water — endorsed by the American Dental Association as “safe and effective in preventing tooth decay” — since 1958. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fluoridation reduces cavities by around 25%.
But Ladapo, in November, had advised against adding fluoride to tap water. The surgeon general, who has bucked expert consensus on health topics including vaccines, cited studies showing a “neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure, particularly in pregnant women and children and the wide availability of alternative sources of fluoride for dental health.”
“Nobody here is anti-fluoride,” Ladapo said Tuesday. “The debate here is whether it should be added to your water.”
One of those studies linked high levels of fluoride in the water in other countries to lower IQs in children. Critics of the study have noted that the fluoride levels in question, however, were more than twice the regulatory limits in the U.S.
Another study conducted among pregnant women in Los Angeles by a University of Florida researcher concluded that “prenatal fluoride exposure was associated with increased neurobehavioral problems” in children. According to the Lakeland Ledger, one expert advised “caution” with the study, saying it didn’t adjust for pregnant women’s use of alcohol or drugs.
Researcher Ashley Malin was present for the hearing and responded to critics.
“Substance use wasn’t an issue for participants in the cohort included in the study that I led, to put it into context, even with smoking for example, we only had six participants in the study who reported smoking during pregnancy and we conducted a supplemented analysis that we excluded them,” she said.
Ladapo argues that alternatives exist.
“However it was born out of in the past and whatever the purported benefits there are dentally, there are now clearly alternatives,” he said. “Toothpaste is not expensive. I mean, there are people who argue that toothpaste may be difficult for some people to access. You can use the money that you are otherwise investing in water fluoridation to provide free toothpaste for anyone who’s having difficulty paying for it.”
Local 10 News spoke to Dr. Richard Mufson, an Aventura oral surgeon. He was incredulous over the idea of removing fluoride from the county’s water. The committee did not vote on the issue during Tuesday’s meeting.
“To me it is just beyond belief we are even sitting here talking about it because it has been proven so many times over as beneficial,” Mufson said.
He said people often wrongly dismiss cavities as a minor issue and said preventing them can prevent serious problems.
“When you mention the word ‘cavities,’ people think about a little thing in a tooth,” Mufson said. “Cavities are a bad problem because they become bigger cavities and that develops into potentially a facial infection and hospitalizations and IV antibiotics and even death.”
He also said, “My question is why are they not bringing up the thousands and thousands and decades worth of bonafide research on fluoride that is beneficial and safe and effective? They are ignoring those. They are only citing fringe studies that have been debunked and are based on bad research and low-quality studies.”
“I would say it is very important to be critical of scientific studies,” Ladapo said of critics of research he cites. “Anyone who looks at my record knows that I am critical of scientific studies and sometimes that leads me to reach conclusions that differ from the mainstream consensus.”
Ladapo, said a new Florida bill would end water fluoridation statewide.
“My hope is that this county and every county in Florida stops adding fluoride to water,” he said.
Mufson hopes for the opposite.
“Taking it away is analogous to — they want to take away our vaccines too, from the very top of our administration down,” he said. “I don’t know what they want to do. Bring back polio? Whooping cough? Dental decay? That is what in effect they are saying they want to do: Let’s bring back lots of disease.”
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Water and Sewer Department Director Roy Coley issued a joint statement Tuesday afternoon responding to Ladapo:
“Miami-Dade County’s drinking water is safe, high-quality, and meets or exceeds all local, state, and federal standards. For over 60 years, the County has fluoridated its water following extensive scientific research that proves it is safe and an important measure to prevent tooth decay and protect public health. Consensus across public health, medical, scientific, and dental organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Water Works Association (AWWA), and the American Dental Association (ADA) classify fluoridation as an effective public health measure. The Department remains committed to supporting the public’s health and will adjust its fluoridation practices if regulations or scientific consensus change.”