Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, some US communities have seen shortages of sodium fluoride, a mineral that many municipalities add to their water supply to help prevent tooth decay.
In December 2021, his city Alpena, Michigannotified residents that it had enough fluoride to last through the following January.
In July 2022, several cities in the Westchester County, New Yorkstopped adding fluoride due to supply chain problems.
And in November 2022, eight towns and cities in Massachusetts; reported that they had run out of fluoride and had to stop adding it to the community water.
Some fluoride material used in the United States comes from China, and “transportation bottlenecks have delayed getting the additive to communities,” says Tracy Boehmer, a fluoridation engineer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
By January 2023, the City of Natick, Massachusetts announced it had stocked up on about four months’ worth of sodium fluoride and planned to resume fluoridation in the spring, but city officials said the cost of the additive had tripled from previous years.
Fluoride was first added to public water supplies in the 1940s
In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first municipality to add fluoride to its water, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, a division of the US National Institutes of Health. This experiment was based on scientific studies that suggested that fluoride could prevent tooth decay by making tooth enamel more resistant to acids, which are released by bacteria and can damage enamel.
Researchers tracked the effects of water fluoridation in Grand Rapids for more than a decade and found that it resulted in a more than 60 percent decrease in the cavity rate among children in the city. In 1950, the American Dental Association (ADA) recommended that all communities add fluoride to their water supplies, and many have since.
Stopping fluoridation leads to increased tooth decay in communities
According to CDC, there are three types of fluoride that can be added to public water systems: hydrofluoric acid, sodium fluoride, and sodium fluorosilicate. Most communities use hydrosilicic acid, but some communities using sodium fluoride have seen shortages.
Concerned that the shortages could end fluoride programs for good, the ADA and the Association of State and Territory Dental Directors recently sent out an advisory to all states, saying, “These shortages are expected to be temporary. Although they may result in a relatively short-term suspension of community water fluoridation, they should not be used as justification for ending community water fluoridation. The long-term cost of stopping fluoridation is much higher.”
Steven M. Levy, DDS, professor of preventive and community dentistry at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, told a Press release that research shows that tooth decay increases in communities that stop water fluoridation.
ONE study published January 28 in Israel Journal of Health Policy Research showed that while water fluoridation affects the entire population, those with lower incomes, poorer oral health, and significant barriers to dental care experience worse outcomes than those with higher incomes.
The CDC’s Boehmer says the agency’s research shows that the benefit of fluoridated water is most important for children ages 5 to 18 in both preventing tooth decay and reducing the severity of tooth decay. This is important, Boehmer says, because severe cavities can lead to infections and tooth loss.
Is your municipal water fluoridated?
The CDC hosts a website that public health agencies can use to report whether or not fluoride is present in the water supply. Boehmer says consumers can check the website to see if their water is currently fluoridated, or they can call their local water company to ask.
Nicole Johnson, the deputy director for policy, partnerships and strategic communications at CDC Division of Oral Healthsays people who aren’t sure about the fluoride level in their water should talk to their pediatrician or pediatric dentist and ask if supplements — such as drops that can go into the water — might be needed to protect children’s teeth. children.
What should you do if your water does not have fluoride?
Mohamed ElSalhy, PhD, MPH, the chair of the division of preventive, pediatric and community dentistry at the College of Dental Medicine at the University of New England in Portland, Maine, says the key advice for people experiencing water fluoridation for any reason is to find ways to take better care their teeth. If you currently brush twice a day, try brushing three times, using a fluoride toothpaste.
“If you know there’s a pause in fluoridation in your area, that’s an indication to take even better care of your teeth,” says Dr. ElSalhy.
ElSalhy also says that children and adults in communities experiencing fluoride deficiencies should be sure to see their dentist for regular checkups and ask if extra check-ups are needed during a fluoride deficiency.
“A few months without fluoride is generally not a crisis, but if the deficiency continues for longer, some dentists might decide to add fluoride treatments done either in the dental office or at home,” says ElSalhy.
