Fluoride wars continue: Ron DeSantis accuses dentists of backing ‘forced interventions’
Image via Fox News

DeSantis Fox News
'They don't trust people to take care of themselves.'

Fluoride wars continue between the Florida Governor and the American Dental Association (ADA), with Gov. Ron DeSantis deriding the trade group.

“They don’t trust people to take care of themselves,” DeSantis said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”

DeSantis was responding to a statement the ADA released condemning Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s opposition to fluoride being added to city water systems. The Governor has made the practice illegal after signing the Florida Farm Bill, a measure lawmakers passed this Session.

The ADA said Ladapo describing fluoridation as “medical malpractice” was a “dangerous statement.”

“They want to make this decision for other people,” DeSantis said, contending the ADA wanted to “force it in their drinking water so you can fluoridate them that way.”

“I think we’re better off letting people make their own decisions when it comes to this. And so I understand that there’s different entities that believe in these forced interventions. Our view in Florida is that we’ve got to focus on informed consent. And that’s what we’ve done here.”

DeSantis has been outspoken against the once-uncontroversial additive, calling it “forced medication when they’re jamming fluoride in your water supply.”

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. His work also can be seen in the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and National Review, among other publications. He can be reached at AG@FloridaPolitics.com or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


8 comments

  • Paul

    May 21, 2025 at 11:55 am

    Ron’s theme song: “I’m a Loser” by The Beatles.

    • ScienceBLVR

      May 21, 2025 at 12:07 pm

      Soon, it will be the Beatles, Nowhere Man..

  • William G Pigman

    May 21, 2025 at 11:57 am

    Someone is going to make a lot of money , with fluoride pills very soon.

  • Dr. Bob

    May 21, 2025 at 1:00 pm

    Removing fluoride from the water supply is a terrible mistake. Years of experience has proven that fluoridation is safe. And it is effective for greatly reducing tooth decay. Floridians, especially children, will have more pain from tooth decay. Dental health costs will go up because more fillings will be needed. This is Making America Sick Again, not Making American Healthy Again. The Governor should be ashamed.

    He should also be ashamed for vetoing the repeal of the Free Kill law, which in many cases created an incentive for physicians who make life-threatening errors to let the patients die rather than save them and possibly face a malpractice suit. If the patient dies, nobody can sue for malpractice.

  • Michael K

    May 22, 2025 at 8:14 am

    Prior to the introduction of fluoride in drinking water, most adults could expect to wear dentures – full dentures. Losing teeth was expected and “normal.”

    I’m sure the dentists are pleased with our governor.

    • Cosimo

      May 22, 2025 at 11:16 am

      Dentists—or at least their professional organizations—have always supported water fluoridation. They’re interested in public health.

      • Michael K

        May 22, 2025 at 2:40 pm

        Yes, agreed. Our faux populist Ivy League elitist governor caters to the lowest common denominator, not the common good.

  • smiling with rotten teeth

    May 22, 2025 at 10:37 am

    Leave it to Rona and the GOP to trash a decades old public health practice based upon quackery. Worse yet, they couch it as “freedom” while they preempt local government decisions. It’s basic democracy to let such matters be resolved at the local level by elected representatives who are more accountable to their constituents. This is a GOP practice in recent years- total disregard for home rule powers set forth in our State Constitution. Poor people who can’t afford private dental care will suffer the consequences of this stupid law.

Comments are closed.


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