- Despite a trend in Southwest Florida and a recommendation from Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Fort Myers officials voted to keep fluoride in the city’s drinking water.
- Proponents of fluoridated water, such as local dentist Dr. Bill Truax, cite studies showing its benefits in reducing cavities, especially among low-income populations.
- Fort Myers, which began adding fluoride in 1980, maintains a level of 0.7 parts per million, aligning with recommendations from dental organizations since the 1930s.
Fort Myers became the first in Southwest Florida when authorities agreed this week to keep the cavity-fighting mineral fluoride in its drinking water.
“I would say I’m not sure why we’d eliminate it,” said Councilman Liston Bochette, who said he spent the weekend reading medical journals and studies, including from prestigious Johns-Hopkins.
“I understand other cities are doing it,” said Councilwoman Teresa Watkins-Brown. “Because they’re doing it doesn’t make it right.”
Perhaps Councilwoman Diana Giraldo put it most succinctly.
“If everybody’s jumping off a cliff we don’t have to jump too,” she said.
Councilman Fred Burson said he asked to put the fluoride issue on the agenda after nearly every other provider in the area took the step of removing fluoride, flying directly into the face of groups like the American Dental Association and the American Society of Pediatrics. He said he had no strong feeling one way or the other but wanted council to discuss it.
Collier County, Naples and Marco Island voted to remove fluoride from their drinking water during 2024. Lee County commissioners voted to remove it earlier this month.
Florida’s surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo has recommended making the state fluoride-free, and he has gone so far as to deem fluoride in drinking water “public health malpractice.”
Ladapo, hand-picked by Gov. Ron DeSantis, and others claim high levels of fluoride can lead to lower IQs and cognitive development issues among the young.
Dr. Bill Truax heads the local program Dentists Care, a clinic that provides free dental care to those who cannot otherwise afford it. He said fluoride in drinking water leads to a 25 to 30% reduction in cavities in the community.
“The anti-fluoride group clings to an un-scientific study from 2007 done in China,” he said.
Truax pointed out the study focused on groups with natural levels of fluoride in their water many times the recommended level of 0.7 parts-per-million, the recommended level at which the city keep the water for its 30,000 customers.
“That study is not valid at all,” Truax said.
He urged council members to keep fluoride in the water.
“Who will be hurt? The people I see,” he said. “The affluent can go to the dentist every 6 months. They don’t need fluoride. The result would be 50% more cavities among the poor.”
Justin Mahon is the environmental compliance manager for Fort Myers Utilities. He told council the reverse osmosis system the city uses produces water with as many as 0.28 parts of fluoride per million, and the system adds the mineral to bring the level to the 0.7 the dental groups have recommended since the 1930s. Fort Myers began adding fluoride in 1980.
In 1999 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention called fluoridation “one of the 10 great public health achievements” of the Twentieth Century.
Original article online at: https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2025/02/19/fluoride-stays-in-fort-myers-water-as-council-listens-to-dentists/79169652007/