The Fluoride Question

Sold as dental policy, suspected as sedation. The dose, both sides agree, is the debate.

Water fluoridation began in Grand Rapids, 1945; the John Birch Society famously called it a communist plot, and 'Dr. Strangelove' immortalized the panic. Documented since: fluoride reduces caries; a 2006 NRC review flagged effects at high natural concentrations; a 2024 NTP monograph reported an association between high fluoride exposure (above 1.5 mg/L, roughly twice U.S. levels) and lower IQ in children, reigniting the fight, and a federal court ordered EPA reassessment. The rare node where the lore aged into a live regulatory science dispute — about dose, not communism.