OHIO — All week, Spectrum News 1 has been looking at the topic of water quality in the Buckeye State.
One issue that’s gained a lot of attention recently is the debate over adding fluoride to public water systems.
When Springfield, Ohio, mom Heather Bumgarner headed to the park with her 2-year-old daughter Rylee, probably the last thing she ever expected to be asked about by a news reporter was fluoride.
However, it turns out that it’s a topic she’s been looking into a for a while.
“We’ve done a lot of research where the fluoride isn’t good for our teeth and actually causes more damage than good, so we’ve kind of gone to a fluoride free toothpaste” she said.
Debate surrounding fluoride in toothpaste and in water systems has been a hot button issue for a while.
Many parents like Bumgarner want use of it to be their choice.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, water and milk are the top options for kids.
“With her fluoride she’s doing good. She went to the dentist and everything is fine. She does have a little cavity. She hates to have her teeth brushed, so we literally have to hold her down to brush her teeth and make sure they get done correctly,” Bumgarner said.
“Forced medication is how I view it and how a lot of my constituents view it,” said State Rep. Levi Dean.
Dean said he was approached by a local leader in Wilmington asking how they could take fluoride out of their water system.
“I decided to run a bill to just say ‘hey we’re not going to add fluoride to the water’ and that way if people want to add fluoride or wanted to ingest more they can, but it’s not forced onto them,” Dean said.
Several Ohio communities like Xenia, Yellow Springs, Springfield and Lancaster have opted out of or banned fluoridation of their public water supplies.
“We know, we being dentists and in the greater science community, know that fluoride is a huge benefit for the oral health of our citizens, especially children. It is basically nature’s cavity fighter,” said Dr. Hal Jeter.
Jeter is president of the Ohio Dental Association.
He also practices in the most southern tip of Ohio and serves many in the Appalachian community. He worries about the rate of dental decay if fluoride is missing.
He said the optimal level in community drinking water systems translates to about three drops in a 55 gallon drum.
“The amount that you would find in any public water system that adds fluoride to its water, there are no credible studies that show that that amount has any negative effect on IQ, on health otherwise,” said Jeter.
For Dean and parents like Bumgarner, their focus is to have the choice.
“For us not to have the say, that doesn’t seem like the right thing to do, so definitely want the say in that,” she said.
“I just want this to be something that each individual has the right to choose what medication they have to take or not. That’s it,” Dean said.
According to Ohio.gov, approximately 7% of Ohioans use private wells as their primary source of drinking water.
Fluoride is not added to water in the wells by governing municipalities.
Original article online at: https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/07/16/proposed-bill-would-ban-adding-fluoride-to-public-water-systems-