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Overview
The ADA has endorsed fluoridation of community water supplies as safe and effective for preventing tooth decay for more than 40 years. Water fluoridation—the process of adjusting the natural level of fluoride to a concentration sufficient to protect against tooth decay (from 0.7 parts per million to 1.2 ppm)—has been recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th Century. Fluoride's benefits are particularly important for those Americans, especially children, who lack adequate access to dental care. It is safe, effective and has been described as "the best bang for the nation's public health buck" by a past ADA president.
However, some people have lobbied at federal, state and community levels to end or prevent community water fluoridation. They have raised public concern about the safety of fluoride and, despite evidence to the contrary, have targeted the ADA and local dental associations for our support of fluoridation.
Furthermore, efforts to introduce fluoridation into community water supplies are frequently undermined by limited funds for infrastructure, perceived controversy, voter apathy, confusing ballot language and an abundance of misinformation that has flourished on the Internet. As a result, optimally fluoridated water is available to only two-thirds of those served by public water systems.
Based on scientific evidence, the ADA supports universal fluoridation and believes that all communal water supplies containing less than the optimal level of fluoride should be adjusted to an optimum level. Toward this end, the ADA is urging Congress and state legislators to make capacity-building funds readily available to help communities establish, upgrade and maintain an effective public water fluoridation infrastructure.
The Association welcomes calls for additional controlled studies on the safety, health benefits and cost-effectiveness of community water fluoridation as a means of assuring the public about its safety.
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Letters and Testimony
- October 20, 2006—Statement of support for the FDA's decision to allow bottlers to claim that fluoridated water may reduce the risk of dental cavities or tooth decay
- July 17, 2006—Letter to Prevention magazine, urging the editor to correct several misleading statements about fluoride's safety and effectiveness | PDF file/36k
- March 22, 2006—Statement on the National Academy of Sciences report, Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA's Standard
- October 14, 2005—Letter to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), urging the National Research Council's Committee on Toxicology to disregard the claims of an anti-fluoridation thesis prior to its having been peer reviewed and published
| PDF file/70k
- October 14, 2005—Letter to the National Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIEHS), opposing efforts to include fluoridated tap water in the National Toxicology Program's 11th Report on Carcinogens | PDF file/47k
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ADA Resources
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Additional Resources
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Contact Us
For additional information, please contact:
Federal Affairs
1111 14th Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
202.898.2400
Fax: 202.898.2437
E-mail: govtpol@ada.org
State Government Affairs
ADA Chicago Headquarters
211 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
312.440.2525
Fax: 312.440.3539
E-mail: govtpol@ada.org
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