Water fluoridation
addition of fluoride to a water supply to reduce tooth decay
Water fluoridation is the controlled addition of fluoride to public water supplies to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water maintains fluoride levels effective for cavity prevention, achieved naturally or through supplementation. In the mouth, fluoride slows tooth enamel demineralization and enhances remineralization in early-stage cavities. Defluoridation is necessary when natural fluoride exceeds recommended limits. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends fluoride levels of 0.5–1.5 mg/L, depending on climate and other factors. In the U.S., the recommended level has been 0.7 mg/L since 2015, lowered from 1.2 mg/L. Bottled water often has unknown fluoride levels.
Tooth decay affects 60–90% of schoolchildren worldwide. Fluoridation reduces cavities in children, with Cochrane reviews estimating reductions of 35% in baby teeth and 26% in permanent teeth when no other fluoride sources are available, though efficacy in adults is less clear. In Europe and other regions, declining decay rates are attributed to topical fluorides and alternatives like salt fluoridation and nano-hydroxyapatite.
The United States was the first country to engage in water fluoridation, and 72% of its population drinks fluoridated water as of 2022.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Water fluoridation” as addition of fluoride to a water supply to reduce tooth decay. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1125466. The Library of Congress control number is sh85145458. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2015 and 2022.
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This entry incorporates text from “Water fluoridation” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.