SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is now officially the first state in the nation to pull fluoride from public drinking water after lawmakers banned it during the most recent legislative session.
Pediatric dentist, Dr. Darren Chamberlain, has been preparing for this day since the ban became law earlier this year.
“If we stop consuming sugar, we wouldn’t need fluoride. So, maybe that’s the next step," said Chamberlain. "Good luck!”
Chamberlain serves patients in non-fluoride communities and has prescribed fluoride since he started 20 years ago.
“Every day I’ve had more and more questions about fluoride in the water,” remarked Chamberlain.
Dentist shares worries for kids over fluoride removal from Utah's water:
He says parents in areas where fluoride was removed are searching for answers.
“Treating children, I have parents ask, ‘OK, how do we know that fluoride is out of the water, how do we protect our children’s teeth?’” he shared.
Gov. Spencer Cox signed the law against the recommendations of dentists and national health experts who say removing fluoride could affect tooth development.
“I mainly worry about the public health impacts to our community of not having that added fluoride benefit to community members and whether there are things that can be done in order to continue to protect the health and wellness of all of the residents in our community,” said Laura Briefer, director of Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities.
Why is most of southern Utah brushing aside fluoride controversy?
Briefer explained that adding fluoride to water costs about $100,000 a year. The cost to remove fluoride is around $200,000, adding that we already have natural fluoride in our water.
“We were adding a little bit of fluoride. That’s about two drops in a 55-gallon bucket,” she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that water systems add fluoride up to about 0.7 parts per million. Naturally, fluoride in our system is lower than that, Briefer said.
Carolyn Brinkerhoff, an office manager at Salt Lake Dental, said some patients are concerned about the ban.
“We’ve had a lot of patients come into the office actually for their regular cleanings, and they’re requesting fluoride now since they’ve heard about the ban," Brinkerhoff said. "So they’re concerned about it.”
Brinkerhoff hopes to collect data and study the changes.
“Those are the things we need as a community to really seek to understand what those outcomes are.”
