Governor DeSantis hired Dr. Joseph Ladapo as Florida’s Surgeon General because he wanted a doctor who took a contrarian view on COVID: to support those who were anti-vaccine, anti-mask, and unwilling to follow public health guidelines. In other words, in the world of people who care about science, a quack.
Now, Dr. Ladapo is calling for the end of fluoridating the drinking water of Florida. He’s taking cues from the nation’s leading medical crackpot, Robert F. Kennedy.
The top health official of the nation’s third-largest state called Friday for a halt to adding fluoride to Florida’s water, citing controversial studies that suggest the widely hailed public health practice poses a risk to developing brains.
Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo issued a recommendation citing “the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure, particularly in pregnant women and children,” and noting the availability of alternative sources of fluoride intoothpaste and mouthwash.
“It is clear more research is necessary to address safety and efficacy concerns regarding community water fluoridation,” Ladapo said in a statement.“The previously considered benefit of community water fluoridation does not outweigh the current known risks, especially for special populations like pregnant women and children.”
Ladapo’s announcement comes three weeks after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, said the Trump administration plans to issue a similar recommendation nationwide next year. Kennedy’s remarks drew rebukes from public health experts who say that the practice has helped protect Americans’ teeth, particularly in vulnerable communities where children might not regularly brush their teeth.
“It’s madness,” said Kurt Ferré, a retired Portland, Oregon, dentist and longtime pro-fluoridation activist. He said Florida’s seniors especially benefit from fluoride because of the oral health issues that come with age and medical care for older adults.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long recommended putting fluoride in Americans’ drinking water, hailing it as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century and citing data that the practice reduces cavities by about 25 percent in children and adults. The water systems of more than 200 million Americans are fluoridated, according to CDC data.
Fluoridation has been a key public health strategy for decades, and proponents have pointed to studies showing oral health problems declining in cities that added the mineral and rising in communities that removed it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Project 2025 is Florida 2024.
The appointment or attempted appointment of Florida officials (Matt Gaetz and Pam Bondi as well as the potential HUD secretary)A Lapado-like figure in RFK, Jr. Even when I hear national media talk about how vouchers would work from a federal standpoint, they’re describing how vouchers have worked here since Jeb Bush. Donate money to an organization for a tax write-off. That money is used to fund vouchers.
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When DeSantis first brought in Hillsdale College into Florida’s New College, I couldn’t figure out where this unknown college came from and why out of all the Colleges, DeSantis would choose this one.
Hillsdale President is Larry P. Arnn who also happens to be on the board of directors of The Heritage Foundation authors of Project 2025.
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People with disabilities and poor children that often lack access to dental services will be getting more cavities and dental infections from the lack of fluoride in drinking water. This decision comes before the GOP proposes massive cuts to Medicaid with new rules that will make it harder for poor and vulnerable health impaired individuals to qualify for assistance. https://healthlaw.org/authoritarian-project-2025-agenda-endangers-the-future-of-medicaid-and-the-affordable-care-act/
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Four years of this idiocy. FOUR MORE YEARS.
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I hope I survive. I’m no spring chicken.
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Another important element in dental care is finding a competent and honest dentist, no easy task. Dentists make the bigger bucks by drilling baby, drilling. Earlier in my life I had a dentist who was constantly drilling and finding cavities with every dental visit until I had enough of his tactics. I eventually found a more conservative dentist who drilled when it was necessary not on every whim. Dental care is not cheap, my last visit for a cleaning with dental x-rays was $379. Fluoride in water helps but the core of real dental care is proper brushing on a daily basis and also using dental floss, those small interdental brushes, fluoride mouthwash, a good brand fluoride toothpaste, brushing your tongue and the roof of your mouth and going to the dentist at least twice a year.
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I’m with you on that! I’ve always been a bit of a dental hygiene aficionado. I moved to another city during my 20s and ended up seeing some quack who tried to tell me I had over 30 cavities even though I’d never had a single cavity before. He just wanted to drill like you said! Thank goodness I couldn’t afford it at the time, especially without dental insurance… Eventually, I got a second opinion, and there were no cavities.
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It’s unfortunate that Medicare does not offer some type of affordable dental coverage add-on for seniors. My son has a plan through the ACA that he pays for. One of the options of some Medicare Advantage plans is some type of dental coverage, and it is a benefit that attracts seniors to their plans.
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My dental is covered with United Healthcare, as part of my Medicare Advantage.
Glasses, too.
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Medicare does not include dental and vision. Advantage plans do.
But if you have a serious hospitalization, Medicare is far superior to Advantage. When I had open heart surgery, the total bill was over $800,000. I paid $300.
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Just remember that not too long ago, the barber was also your dentist and surgeon. Look up the history of the red and white barber pole.
Anyway, I worked in Pediatric dentistry for a while and my FIL is a retired dentist. These 2 dentists didn’t see the need for fluoride in the water supply anymore. Brushing and flossing are just as effective. In fact, if you look at toothpaste formulated for babies, there is no fluoride added. We instructed parents to never put the child to bed with a bottle of milk (or juice/soda/kool aid etc)…or even water (choking hazard). Give the baby a bottle and then use gauze wrapped around a finger to wipe the teeth clean or use a small ,soft toothbrush. There wasn’t any greater incident of tooth decay with families on well water when decent oral hygiene was performed.
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Fluoridation has been common for decades. There have been no credible reports of any problems, but tooth decay is way down. Why is this even an issue?
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RFK claims fluoride lowers IQ, but I think it was the acid he dropped or the brain worm that explains RFK.
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RFK had a heroin habit in law school.
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And heroin is a very different thing than acid.
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