There is very strong population-scale evidence that municipal fluoridation significantly reduces the incidence of caries in children, including in developed cou

There is very strong population-scale evidence that municipal fluoridation significantly reduces the incidence of caries in children, including in developed countries with strong conventions around dental health (brushing twice a day, flossing, etc.)[1][2]. (A lot of this research comes from comparing cities/communities in Canada, since Canada is among the few countries that have gone on-again, off-again with municipal fluoridation. This in turn makes the data really strong, since there are relatively few confounding factors when comparing dental outcomes between Canadian children, versus children spread across the world.) Of note: the research also indicates that, if the general public were to brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, then municipal fluoridation would probably have only a marginal effect on overall dental health outcomes. But there's no strong evidence that redirecting money away from municipal fluoridation towards dental health education would meaningfully move the needle on individual practices; to the contrary, there's strong evidence that a decent percentage of the population will never engage in baseline dental hygiene, and thus benefits disproportionately from municipal fluoridation. [1]: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335773400_Affirmation_Fluoridated_Water_Reduces_Caries_in_Children https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335773400_Affirmati... [2]: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdoe.12685 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdoe.12685