Health experts lament removal of fluoride from Queensland water supplies

Fluoridation in the Gympie Region began in 2010 and is set to end next month after a council vote in which five of eight councillors supported discontinuation. According to ABC News, medical experts had advised against the move, but some of the councillors who supported it questioned mainstream medical advice. 

Queensland paediatric dentist Dr Tim Keys described the decision as influenced by “a vocal minority” and warned that it was likely to increase caries prevalence. Speaking to ABC’s 7.30 television programme, he said: “These decisions defy strong medical advice and will likely increase preventable decay, pain and costs, disproportionately hurting vulnerable families.” 

Public health policy expert Dr Michael Foley noted that rural Queenslanders already experience higher rates of tooth loss and caries. He said: “Regional Queenslanders have the poorest dental health in the country, and most regional Queenslanders don’t realise that.” He added that this phenomenon is often referred to as the “Queensland smile”. 

Fluoridation has long been a contentious issue in Queensland, and recent developments may have been influenced by prominent anti-fluoridation figures overseas, including US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In January 2024, Kennedy claimed that fluoride was linked to a range of health problems, as well as lower IQ test results in children, and the states of Utah and Florida acted quickly to ban the practice. In contrast, public health authorities and professional bodies continue to endorse fluoridation on the basis of decades of peer-reviewed research confirming its safety and efficacy, including the American Dental Association, Australian Dental Association and Australian Medical Association.  

“One of the most important public health policies”

In 2012, the Queensland government delegated responsibility for fluoridation to individual councils. Gympie has now joined Cook Shire, Cairns and Banana Shire in opting out, leaving just 17 of the state’s 77 councils that still fluoridate their water. Most Queenslanders live in larger eastern municipalities such as Brisbane, where fluoridation continues, but experts warn that regional gaps are concerning. 

According to Dr Loc Do, professor of dental public health at the School of Dentistry of the University of Queensland, recent findings have again confirmed fluoridation’s benefits. The 2021–2024 Queensland Child Oral Health Study found that 38.8% of children aged 5–10 had caries in their primary teeth—down from 49.5% recorded in 2010–2012 during Queensland’s initial fluoridation rollout. The newest study was led by Prof. Do and examined the teeth of over 7,700 schoolchildren aged 5–14 from public and private schools. Prof. Do told ABC News that the improvement was most notable in areas that had introduced fluoridation more recently and that benefits persisted after adjusting for socio-economic and behavioural factors. 

Australian Dental Association spokesperson Dr Monica Farrelly, who was not involved in the research, described it as “very rigorous”. She said the Australian Dental Association continues to support fluoridation as “one of the most important public health policies”, alongside the use of fluoride toothpaste. Prof. Do added that the new study, which is pending publication, is “one of the largest and most comprehensive international investigations into the effectiveness and safety of water fluoridation”.

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