CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The topic of fluoride in water comes with multiple opinions. 

Dr. Gregory Cook is the owner of Belmont Dental. He offers his patients the option to have a fluoride rinse at the office.

“[I] very strongly recommend it. Cavities are probably one of the most preventable diseases that there is," Cook said.

In the U.S. fluoride was first added to water in the 1940s in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Since then, municipalities across the country have chosen whether and how much fluoride to add to their water.

The American Dental Association supports fluoride in water. According to the group's website: “The American Dental Association unreservedly endorses the fluoridation of community water supplies as safe, effective and necessary in preventing tooth decay.” 

Cook says fluoride in water fills in the gaps for some communities.

“Having that access to some people that don’t have regular dental visits, regular dental treatments, even some that aren’t able to brush their teeth regularly,” Cook said. 

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the secretary of health and human services – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – has said fluoride in water is an “industrial waste.”

He says he would recommend fluoride be taken out of water – although the decision is not made on a federal level and is up to state and local governments.

In Union County, commissioners voted to remove fluoride from county water earlier this year.

Vice Chairman Brian Helms says he voted to remove it because of the concern residents expressed.

“I think it brings into question perhaps the role of government in this, and I don’t know that we’re qualified to make that choice for individuals,” Helms said.

He says fluoride is still available to people in Union County through toothpaste or from their dentists, if they want it. He says what’s easy and what’s right are often two different things.

“I would just say that our board did the best that we could to respect individual rights, and I'm very proud of our board for the action that we took,” Helms said.

Helms says it wasn’t an easy decision to make after many meetings with residents and experts. But he says this is their new normal. 

“I haven’t heard a whole lot of public outcry from this. I would say that we’ve done our due diligence,” Helms said.

Cook says he believes there could be an impact if fluoride is removed from water.

“We’d probably see more regular patients, more regular people coming in with cavities that probably could’ve been prevented. Some people are definitely more susceptible to cavities and those people would definitely be affected,” Cook said.

The president of the American Dental Association says “studies show that community water fluoridation prevents at least 25% of tooth decay in children and adults throughout their life span.”