Since 1950, the American Dental Association has advocated in favor of water fluoridation. Calling it "One of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century," by the Centers for Control and Disease Prevention, advocates of water fluoridation firmly stand behind the research they believe proves that water fluoridation reduces the rate of tooth decay in areas where it has been added to the water.
Opponents of water fluoridation tell a different story. Fluorosis of the enamel, bone cancer, hypothyroidism, and Down's Syndrome are just a few of the side effects that fluoride opponents claim are caused by fluoridated water. An Environmental Protection Agency scientist, Robert Carton, stated in 1991 that "Fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century, if not of all time."
Clearly there are educated and established organizations that sit on both sides of the water fluoridation issue.
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Based on the 2008 water fluoridation statistics issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 195,545,109 of the 269,911,707 persons in the United States that are on public drinking water systems are receiving fluoridated water. That works out to be 72.4% of the population on public water systems receiving fluoridated water.
Background
Water fluoridation began in the United States in 1945. All water sources have some amount of naturally occurring fluoride, either in the water or from the soil and rock surrounding our water sources. After research in the early 1940's provided data indicating that people living in areas where naturally occurring levels of fluoride were at 1.0 ppm had fewer cavities, the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, increased the level of fluoride in the water to 1.0 ppm (one part fluoride per one million parts water). This level of fluoride is considered to be the optimum level for decreasing the rate of cavities.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been required by law to monitor the level of contaminants in our water since 1974, when Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act. In 1986, the Environmental Protection Agency established 4 mg of fluoride per liter of water as the maximum contaminant level goals (MCL) for fluoride in public water. Across the United States, fluoride levels have been shown to exceed this amount naturally.
