WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Monday night, Williamson County Commissioners will decide whether to show support for a bill moving through Tennessee’s legislature which would ban adding fluoride in public water supplies statewide.
Williamson County Commissioner Gregg Lawrence told News 2 while the commission doesn’t actually have control over the county’s water supply, he is trying to win support for the proposal.
“There’s concerns about the potential harmful effects of fluoride,” Lawrence said.
Health experts say communities have added fluoride to public water supplies for decades. However, Commissioner Lawrence says now there’s plenty of other ways to get it and he thinks people should have a choice.
📧 Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts →
“You can get fluoride toothpaste. There’s fluoride mouthwashes. You can go to the dentist and get a fluoride treatment,” he added. “If you’re a municipality, putting it in a water supply, you’re basically forcing everyone to ingest fluoride, whether they want to or not.”
According to Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, small amounts of fluoride can strengthen the enamel in our teeth, prevent tooth decay, and reduce cavities.
He adds fluoride can be especially beneficial for underprivileged communities and children growing their first teeth who aren’t brushing as frequently.
“I would think something that we have done across the country very wisely for a long time, that’s supported by all the dental professional groups, is something we ought to look at very carefully before we stop doing it,” Dr. Schaffner told News 2.
However, Commissioner Lawrence said he’s skeptical of fluoride’s benefits, pointing to the City of Spring Hill, which he says stopped adding fluoride to their water fifteen years ago.
“The evidence that it really improves the incidences of cavities is…it seems to be pretty sketchy,” Commissioner Lawrence said. “There’s been some studies that came out last fall that say that fluoride in water could be lowering children’s IQ and it could be harming pregnant women.”
Dr. Schaffner says the American Dental Association has looked at recent studies and still recommends adding fluoride to public water supplies. “These were frequently studies of much more fluoride than we use – so that’s the issue – you really have to look very carefully at the dose,” Dr. Schaffner explained.
Commissioner Lawrence told News 2 he expects the commission to pass the resolution in favor of removing fluoride at Monday’s meeting.
