Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came into a recent Department of Health and Human Services hearing with conspiracy theories, and left with a crash course in dental science.

At the hearing, held on May 13 to discuss next year’s appropriations for the department, which Kennedy heads as secretary, Rep. Mike Simpson, a Republican congressman from Idaho and dentist of 22 years, pushed back hard on Kennedy’s call to remove fluoride from prescription supplements, defending fluoride as a time-tested, essential public health intervention.

“I am concerned about the fluoride issue,” Simpson said, proceeding to correct assertions by Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary that fluoride may cause serious health problems or attack healthy gut bacteria. “You don’t prevent cavities by killing the bacteria in the mouth; the role of fluoride is to strengthen the tooth’s enamel to increase its resistance to decay.”

Kennedy has a history of promoting dangerous misinformation about fluoride. In a 2024 post on X, he said one of his first actions in a future Trump administration would be to “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water.” He then repeated a series of false and debunked claims, recklessly linking fluoride to serious conditions like arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease. None of these assertions are supported by credible scientific evidence.

Various medical experts, including those at the American Dental Association, have strongly rejected Kennedy’s statements. As Dr. Paul Offit, a respected physician and researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told NPR in November: “Fluoride has been well tested. It clearly and definitively decreases cavities, and is not associated with any clear evidence of the chronic diseases mentioned in that tweet.”

Removing fluoride from public water would directly harm public health. A recent New York University report noted: “ According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), community water fluoridation safely and inexpensively reduced cavities in children by 40% to 70% and tooth loss in adults by 40% to 60% between 1945 and 1999.”

But earlier this year, Utah and Florida both passed laws banning fluoride in drinking water, ignoring decades of scientific evidence. If Secretary Kennedy and the FDA are successful in their efforts to remove fluoride supplements from the market, these states could reverse public health progress and take us back to the pre-fluoride era of the mid-20th century, when cavities were far more common and preventable disease went untreated.

As nurses and public health advocates, we are deeply alarmed by the impact that unfluoridated water will have on children’s health. Dr. Danielle Dunetz, a pediatrician practicing in New Hampshire, where much of the water is not fluoridated, stated that it is not unusual for young patients to require general anesthesia to treat severe dental cavities, a procedure that is not only costly but traumatic for children and distressing for families. Without fluoride, the alternative is far worse: crippling pain, bacterial infection, loss of tooth function and eventual tooth extraction.

Tooth decay doesn’t just damage the mouth. Left untreated, it can lead to serious, life-threatening conditions such as heart disease and brain infections. Predictably, children with untreated cavities are at higher risk of developing sepsis, especially in lower-income communities.

In turning away from fluoride, Secretary Kennedy and others in the Trump administration are ignoring the data from their own agency. According to the CDC, which Kennedy oversees, community water fluoridation saves the U.S. $6.5 billion annually in dental treatment costs. That is a $20 return for every $1 invested.

Removing one of the most effective and affordable public health measures in modern history will neither save money nor improve the health of our nation, especially its children. Secretary Kennedy’s proposed actions are not just scientifically unfounded; they are profoundly shortsighted.

At a time when trust in public health is already under strain, we need leaders who protect what works. Gutting fluoride policy turns back the clock on progress, ignores decades of evidence and puts vulnerable communities at risk.

The science is clear, the stakes are high. And the cost of getting this wrong will be paid in pain — especially by the youngest among us.

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Donna A. Gaffney and Teri Mills are both nurses and members of Defend Public Health, an all-volunteer network of public health researchers, healthcare workers, advocates and allies. This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.

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