ADA backs independent fluoride review at House hearing
The ADA is urging lawmakers to bolster scientific oversight of potential federal fluoride regulations in a statement submitted for the record at a Feb. 24 hearing of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Environment titled “From Source to Tap: A Hearing to Examine Challenges and Opportunities for Safe, Reliable, and Affordable Drinking Water.”
In its statement, the ADA thanked Chairman Gary Palmer, R-Ala., and Ranking Member Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., for convening the hearing and emphasized the connection between drinking water policy and oral health, particularly for children and underserved communities.
“Because community water fluoridation is a longstanding public health practice implemented through public water systems, federal decision-making under the Safe Drinking Water Act can have significant implications for oral health outcomes, particularly for children and underserved populations,” reads the statement, signed by ADA President Richard Rosato, D.M.D., and Interim Executive Director Elizabeth Shapiro, D.D.S., J.D.
The Association called on subcommittee members to cosponsor the Protect Our TEETH Act, H.R. 4556. If approved, the bill would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the US Environmental Protection Agency to commission an independent, rapid-response evidence review from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine before proposing updates to drinking water regulations affecting community water fluoridation.
The ADA’s statement noted that the EPA is currently evaluating scientific evidence related to fluoride in drinking water, including neurodevelopment and dental fluorosis, and that its findings could inform future regulatory decisions.
Highlighting the long track record of fluoridation, Drs. Rosato and Shapiro emphasized that for more than 80 years, community water fluoridation has been a “safe and accessible way to reduce tooth decay” by at least 25%.
They expressed concern about the transparency and rigor of the current federal review process. The Protect Our TEETH Act, Drs. Rosato and Shapiro said, would add an additional layer of scientific integrity and transparency by requiring publication of the independent evidence review in the Federal Register and consideration of its findings in any future rulemaking.
“The ADA supports the Protect Our TEETH Act to help ensure that policy decisions affecting community water fluoridation are informed by rigorous, transparent, and independent scientific review grounded in the best available evidence,” the ADA statement concluded.
