Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation that effectively bans the addition of fluoride to public drinking water statewide—a decision that's sparked division between advocates of individual medical choice and public health officials.

The measure, folded into the Florida Farm Bill (SB 700), was signed into law on May 6 and takes effect July 1. Although the bill does not mention fluoride by name, it prohibits any additives intended to affect human health from being introduced into municipal water supplies, ending a decades-long public health practice in the state.

“It’s forced medication when they’re jamming fluoride into your water supply,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Miami. “We have other ways people can get access to fluoride. When you do this in the water supply, you’re taking away a choice of someone who may not want to have overexposure to fluoride.”

Florida Surgeon Gen. Dr. Joseph Ladapo also backed the ban. In November, he issued guidance discouraging community water fluoridation, citing studies suggesting neurodevelopmental risks. “It’s OK to reverse your position when there’s evidence,” Ladapo said, according to a release from the Florida Department of Health.

Medical experts and public health organizations, however, have warned that the move could erode hard-won progress in oral health, especially for low-income communities with limited access to dental care and the fluoride used in it.

“Community water fluoridation is one of the most effective and affordable public health measures we can implement to protect our residents' oral health,” Florida Dental Association president Dr. Jeff Ottley said in a public statement. “Adding optimal amounts of fluoride into our community water supplies can prevent at least 25 percent of tooth decay in children and adults, reducing the need for costly dental treatments. Decades of sound scientific research proves the safety and effectiveness of fluoridation and underscore the importance of continuing community water fluoridation for the well-being of Florida residents."  

For decades, many U.S. communities have been adding fluoride to their drinking water, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hails as one of the "10 great public health interventions of the 20th century" due to the dramatic decline in cavities that followed.

However, last year, the National Toxicology Program published a systematic review of research about the association between fluoride exposure and neurodevelopment and cognition. That report concluded that higher levels of fluoride exposure—such as in drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter—are associated with lower IQs in children.

However, that 1.5 milligrams is twice as much as the 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water that U.S. health officials recommend for community water supplies.

Local municipalities, including Sarasota and Manatee counties, have faced pressure to weigh in on the matter. Sarasota County does not add fluoride to the water supply; however, it is naturally occurring in tiny amounts. Sarasota’s city commissioners have not yet weighed in on the statewide ban.

Manatee County, on the other hand, has already taken action. On April 15, 2025, the Manatee County Board of Commissioners voted 5-1 to end the practice of adding fluoride to the county's drinking water. This decision came after it was revealed that the county's fluoridation system had been out of service since 2021 due to broken equipment. (Sarasota sources 15 percent of its water from Manatee County.)

Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse expressed concerns about the cost of repairing the system. “I am not going to authorize our utilities department to start spending millions of dollars of your money to fix a machine to start putting fluoride in a few months before the state bans me from putting fluoride in,” he said at the time.

Florida is now the second state in the U.S., after Utah, to enact a statewide fluoride ban.