Poll: Dentists held in high regard, but fluoride in drinking water unpopular in Miami-Dade

Dentists still hold sway in matters involving fluoride and public health in Miami-Dade, but a supermajority of voters think water fluoridation is dangerous and prefer candidates who oppose it, new polling shows.

A survey from The American Promise, a Tallahassee-based public research nonprofit associated with GOP consultant Alex Alvarado, recently found that 91% of Miami-Dade voters believe it’s important that county officials consult dental health professionals when making decisions about fluoridation. Of them, 3 in 4 think it’s “very important” to do so.

But while 82% of dentists support water fluoridation and another 10% “somewhat support it,” according to the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute, the poll results showed an apparent disconnect between that and voter sentiment in Miami-Dade.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said they believe water fluoridation poses health risks, with more than a third of those thinking so saying they were sure the practice is dangerous. A nearly identical share of respondents (60%) said they would be more likely to support a local candidate for public office who prioritizes removing fluoride from the public water supply.

Pollsters surveyed 502 likely voters online. The poll had a 4-percentage-point margin of error.

Miami-Dade Commissioners voted 8-2 last week to remove cavity-preventing fluoride from the county’s tap water within 30 days, ending a program that has existed locally since the 1950s.

Supporters of the change proposed by Commissioner Rob Gonzalez, including Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, cited studies linking fluoride consumption to bone damage and lower IQ levels in early childhood development.

Opponents argued that the concentration of fluoride in the county’s water is too low to hurt people and stressed its health benefits, particularly for poorer residents.

Levine Cava has since said she may veto the measure. On Monday, she hosted a roundtable discussion with health professionals endorsing fluoridation as a safe, proven way to aid the oral well-being of residents.

The American Promise poll found 69% of Miami-Dade voters are aware of the county’s water fluoridation program. And Levine Cava’s support of it doesn’t appear to be too politically damaging; 61% of voters hold positive opinions of her — a larger share than for Gov. Ron DeSantis (58%) and President Donald Trump (52%).

The new poll both comports and conflicts with a separate survey conducted this month by Democratic consulting firms EDGE Communications and MDW Communications, which have worked on Levine Cava’s campaigns. That poll found that 89% of Miami-Dade residents trust dentists on fluoridation, which has a net approval in the county of +17.

Notably, while 47.5% of respondents to the EDGE/MDW poll said they support fluoridation and 30.6% said they oppose it, more than 1 in 5 of those surveyed (22%) reported being undecided.