Utah’s law comes into effect on May 7, with Florida, Ohio, and South Carolina all considering similar measures.
Utah is the first state in the union to ban fluoride in public drinking water, with the new law going into effect on May 7.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed
the legislation into law on May 1, banning the addition of fluoride to the water systems. The text of the bill, which was passed by the Utah State Legislature earlier in 2025, states that no person or government entity can introduce fluoride into the water systems.
The governor did not offer a lengthy public statement on the ban but
said in an on-camera interview in March, “It’s not a bill I care that much about, but it’s a bill I will sign.”
The governor noted at the time that he, like many people, grew up and raised a family in a community without fluoridated water.
“You would think you would see drastically different outcomes with half the state not getting it. ... We haven’t seen that,” Cox said. “So it’s got to be a really high bar for me if we’re going to require people to be medicated by their government.”
Florida, Ohio, and South Carolina are all considering similar legislative measures. Lawmakers in New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Tennessee have rejected them. Kentucky’s bill to make fluoridation optional is currently stalled in the state Senate, according to the Associated Press.
The Utah ban will go into effect one month after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
announced that he would tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending the addition of fluoride to municipal water nationally.
Kennedy announced the plans on April 7 at an event in Salt Lake City along with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, as part of a Make America Healthy Again tour.
During the appearance, Kennedy lauded the state for its efforts on the anti-fluoridation bill, saying that it was “the leader in making America healthy again.”
“It makes no sense to have it in our water supply,“ he said. ”And I’m very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it. And I hope many more will come.”
However, dentists and some experts from national health organizations have warned that the move could lead to medical problems, asserting that it could have a stronger effect on low-income areas.
The American Dental Association opposes the law, saying that it shows “wanton disregard for the oral health and well-being of [Utah’s] constituents.”
The association stated that cavities are the most common chronic childhood disease. The CDC has
long asserted that fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by remineralizing what can be lost because of wear and tear.
“As a father and a dentist, it is disheartening to see that a proven, public health policy, which exists for the greater good of an entire community’s oral health, has been dismantled based on distorted pseudoscience,” the association’s president, Denver-based dentist Brett Kessler, said in a
statement.
Florida will likely become the second state to ban fluoride in public drinking water. Lawmakers there finalized legislation on April 29 to end the common practice that has divided health officials.
The ban is part of the state of
Florida’s Farm Bill, S.B. 700, which passed the state House in an 88–27 vote. It passed the state Senate on April 16. The measure does not name fluoride specifically, but it does ban “the use of certain additives in a water system” throughout the state.
A number of groups have promoted ending fluoridation, particularly after a federal National Toxicology Program
found a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ scores in children.
