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In fact, water fluoridation in Canada turns 80 in 2025. But today the debate on whether to expand or continue the practice rages on.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for instance, has called upon the U.S. to end water fluoridation and studies have suggested increased exposure to fluoride could reduce children’s IQ scores.

Here’s a look at the history of fluoride in water along with its pros and cons.

What is fluoride?

Fluoride is a chemical ion containing fluorine and another element. Fluorine is an element that is missing an electron, so it will naturally bond with an element that has an extra electron. Fluorides are found naturally in food, soil and both fresh and salt water.

History of water fluoridation in Canada

In its March 1951 edition, the Canadian Journal of Public Health references the “Brantford Fluorine Experiment.”

The article, , notes a special meeting of the board of health was held Aug. 19, 1942 to discuss “the appalling dental caries among Brantford school children.”

A proposal was made that Brantford embark on a fluorine experiment, with the co-operation of the Provincial Department of Health. It was determined that Brantford could not be included among communities with a natural fluorine content in public water, as the city’s water source, the Grand River, contains only the merest trace of fluorides.

The notes Brantford was the first community to fluoridate its water supply in 1945. Water treatment is a municipal responsibility but it’s also regulated by federal and provincial governments. Communities across Canada can choose whether they want to fluoridate their water.

The has estimated about 38.8 per cent of Canada’s population has access to fluoridated water.

Canada is one of the most fluoridated countries in the world. Less than 6 per cent of the world’s population has a fluoridated public water supply, according to the Safe Drinking Water Foundation.

Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba have Canada’s top fluoridation rates.

Canadian fluoride levels are monitored, with 0.7 ppm considered the optimal level of water fluoridation without causing adverse health effects.

Benefits of fluoridation

The Safe Drinking Water Foundation notes that when fluoride was added to drinking water in Brantford in 1945, results were compared to the City of Sarnia, which lacked fluoridation.

“Researchers found a significant drop in the severity of cavities where water was fluoridated in Brantford compared to where it was not in Sarnia,” the Safe Drinking Water Foundation noted. “It has been found that the health benefits of fluoride are fewer cavities and less severe cavities, less need for fillings and tooth extractions, and less pain and suffering associated with tooth decay.”

(CDC) has named water fluoridation one of 10 great public health interventions of the 20th century. The agency notes: “Community water fluoridation is a cornerstone strategy for prevention of cavities in the U.S. It is a practical, cost-effective, and equitable way for communities to improve their residents’ oral health regardless of age, education, or income.”

Fluoride in drinking water is diluted, but it meets the teeth every time you drink tap water or beverages made from tap water, the Safe Drinking Water Foundation notes. This gives your teeth near-continuous exposure to fluoride.

Water fluoridation is associated with an increased proportion of children without cavities and reduces the prevalence of tooth decay by 14.6 per cent (2.25 teeth) compared to non-fluoridated areas, the foundation adds.

Concerns of fluoridation

The Safe Drinking Water Foundation estimates the cost of fluoridation at $0.35 to $0.80 per person per year. In Toronto water fluoridation costs $0.77 annually per person, the foundation said, for an annual expense of $1.9 million.

A 2023 examined the potential neurocognitive effects of fluoride in drinking water. The Health Canada study reviewed a body of evidence suggesting fluoride in drinking water may be associated with reduced IQ scores in children at fluoride levels that may be found in Canadian drinking water. The study found that although fluoride has been reported to affect the regulation of various enzymes, no specific mechanisms were found for the effect of fluoride on learning, memory or other cognitive or neurodevelopmental outcomes.

While ingesting large amounts of fluoride can lead to skeletal fluorosis, notes the condition is extremely rare in Canada because fluoride levels in water and consumer products are limited.

Recent concerns

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s presumptive pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services, has

In a social media post three days before Trump was elected, Kennedy said on Jan. 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,” Kennedy wrote on X.

On Jan. 6, on a nine-year research review examining the relationship between fluoride and intelligence.

The study found every one part per million increase in fluoride in urine was associated with a roughly one point drop in a child’s IQ score.

One study, which included nearly 21,000 children, found significant differences in IQ between children with the highest and lowest fluoride exposures, CNN said.

Children exposed to the highest fluoride levels scored about 7 points lower on IQ tests than those exposed to the lowest fluoride.