City of Fort Myers won’t be joining other local governments in removing fluoride from its drinking water.

City Council member Fred Burson said he wanted to bring up the issue Feb. 18 because city of Naples and Collier and Lee counties removed fluoride in the past year.

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo recommended against community water fluoridation due to the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure.

The city began adding fluoride to the water in 1980.

Council members showed no interest in removing fluoride.

Council member Liston Bochette said he spent the weekend studying the issue and found most studies showed fluoride was beneficial in small levels.

Fluoride prevents cavities, reduces tooth decay and strengthens teeth, according to the
American Dental Association.

The city’s water has 0.7 parts per million, the recommended amount.

“If it’s such a small percentage, I’m not sure why we would eliminate it,” Bochette said.

Council member Terolyn Watson said many people in the city don’t have access or can’t afford foods that would add fluoride to fight dental decay.

“Just because other cities are doing it doesn’t make it right,” she said.

Council member Teresa Watkins Brown agreed the city doesn’t have to follow other governments.

Justin Mahon, the city’s environmental compliance manager, made a presentation to Council about fluoridation.

He said because the city has a reverse osmosis process, there already is fluoride in the water. The city adds fluoridation to bring up the level to 0.7 parts per million.

The city would save $53,000 if it stopped adding fluoride, he said.

Dentist Billy Truax, representing Project Dentists Care, a nonprofit that helps people who can’t afford dental care, made a plea to keep fluoride in the water. He said a large portion of Lee County residents can’t afford to get their teeth cleaned and fillings filled.

He disputed the dangers of fluoride, saying a Chinese study repeated by people who claim it’s dangerous was not valid. He said the 2011 study was done in small towns of China, Tibet and Iran where the fluoride was 11.5 parts per million, 15 times the optimal amount.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls fluoridation one of the 10 great public health interventions of the 20th century.