Dentists in fluoride-free Davis worry about the trend spreading
With President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services, many Americans are wondering whether they’re in for a future without fluoridated water. Kennedy, who has widely spread falsehoods about vaccines causing autism and other false medical claims, has vowed that the Trump administration will “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water” as soon as the 47th presidency begins. One place in the country that can offer a glimpse of the fluoride-free life sits just outside the Bay Area: Davis. It is among a handful of communities including Portland, Ore.; Albuquerque; and the state of Hawaii that have made the choice to go without the cavity-preventing additive. Towns in Sonoma and Marin counties, as well as Gridley (Butte County), a small community, have also opted to go without fluoride.