Water Fluoridation Reconsidered: Minimal Benefits, Mounting Risks, and Ethical Dilemmas

Аннотация

Public water fluoridation, once a celebrated PUBLISHED 03 May 2025 VOLUME Vol.07 Issue 05 2025 preventive dentistry milestone, is increasingly being reevaluated in light of current scientific, ethical, and CITATION policy considerations. While initially justified based on Iqra Adrees, Nadeem Mukhtar, Nauman M Shah, & Anum Nasrullah. (2025). data suggesting systemic benefits from ingestion, Comparison of Hearing loss in Children 3 months to 3 years Old with and current evidence demonstrates fluoride’s primary without Risk Factors. The American Journal of Medical Sciences and Pharmaceutical Research, 7(04), 07–15. anticaries mechanism is topical, not systemic. https://doi.org/10.37547/tajmspr/Volume07Issue04-02 Simultaneously, recent studies have linked fluoride COPYRIGHT ingestion—even at levels considered safe (0.7 mg/L) by © 2025 Original content from this work may be used under the terms the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of the creative commons attributes 4.0 License. (HHS)—to neurodevelopmental harm, endocrine disruption, and musculoskeletal risks. This article presents a review of the scientific literature addressing fluoride’s mechanisms of action, its systemic risks, and the ethical challenges posed by involuntary mass medication. Based on recent epidemiological findings, policy developments, and bioethical principles, the continued practice of public water fluoridation appears scientifically outdated and ethically untenable.