Dentists are proving no match for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the battle over fluoride.
Utah and Florida have this year banned the cavity-fighting mineral from drinking water and several other Republican-led states are considering it. Oklahoma has dropped its recommendation that localities fluoridate. Net effect: The nearly three-quarters of Americans who drank fluoridated water before Kennedy became secretary of Health and Human Services is set to plummet.
For Kennedy, who’s long believed drinking fluoride is unhealthy, that’s a win.
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“Fluoride’s predominant benefit to teeth comes from topical contact with the outside of the teeth, not from ingestion,” an HHS spokesperson told POLITICO. “There is no need, therefore, to ingest fluoride.”
