Utah News Dispatch
Utah’s fluoride ban is a year old; so are many of the kids it will harm, dentists say
Dentists opposed to Utah’s first-in-the-nation fluoride ban are still fighting it a year after it went into effect. (Photo by Alex Potemkin/Getty Images)
A year after Utah banned fluoride in drinking water, dentists and doctors are spreading the word that the cavity-fighting mineral is still available in tablets or at the dentist’s office. It’s part of a bigger messaging push they hope will restore fluoride to taps throughout the state.
“We’re all working together to educate the public, and hopefully, through that effort, in the next few years, we’ll be able to bring this issue to the Legislature again and have it reversed,” said James Bekker, a pediatric dentist and past president of the Utah Dental Association.
He points to examples elsewhere. In Juneau, Alaska, and Calgary, Alberta, a spike in cavities followed the removal of fluoride from drinking water.
But Bekker said it’s too soon to see the impact of Utah’s first-in-the-nation law. Fluoride helps form stronger tooth enamel, but the process takes years, he said, starting in the jaws long before children’s teeth come in. And he’s worried about cascading effects, noting students with poor oral health are more likely to have dental pain and miss school or perform poorly in classes.
In the last year, Salt Lake Donated Dental Services, a clinic in Salt Lake City providing free and discount dental care to adults and children, has recorded an increase in the number of preschool-age children requiring sedation for dental work, said Sasha Harvey, the organization’s executive director.
To accommodate the need, the office added two more days to its monthly sedation schedule, an increase of one third, Harvey said. But she told Utah News Dispatch it’s not clear what’s driving the trend.
“It is hard to tell which changes might be due to the fluoride ban,” Harvey said, “and which ones are due to other factors.”
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Roughly half the state’s population was already going without the mineral in their tap water before the new law. Davis and Salt Lake counties, along with Brigham City, were the only governments still adding it in.
The fluoride measure passed over the warnings of Bekker, Harvey and health organizations that it could harm families who can’t afford regular dental care or supplemental tablets. Supporters said it offers families more choice about whether to consume fluoride and adds it to a list of drugs pharmacists can prescribe.
The law’s backers also raised concerns about potential health risks, but major health organizations have said there’s no evidence fluoride is unsafe at recommended levels. A long-term study published in April found no difference in intelligence and brain function in people who drank fluoridated water growing up or didn’t.
“I was very surprised that in Utah, they didn’t follow the data, but they made it an emotional decision,” Bekker said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of drinking water. At a level of more than double that ratio — 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter — a 2025 National Toxicology Program review of research from other countries reported a link with lower IQs in children.
After Gov. Spencer Cox signed the measure into law last year, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, touched down in Salt Lake City to celebrate, touting it as a model.
“I’m very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it,” He said at a news conference. “I hope many more will come.”
Florida followed suit, and similar proposals were introduced in at least 21 states last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
According to the Utah Department of Health, fluoride varnishes are recommended 2 to 4 times a year for children 6 months and older. Fluoride supplements — requiring a prescription from a doctor, dentist or pharmacist — are recommended for children 6 months to 16 years old in areas without fluoride in the water.
Utah lawmakers have passed other laws in line with the Make America Healthy Again agenda in the last two years, banning soda from purchases made via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and prohibiting schools from using certain food dyes and additives in preparing meals.
