Fluoride, commonly used in water supplies and by dentists to prevent tooth decay, has become a hot topic nationwide. If parents opt for it, it’s even making its way into pediatric checkups.

However, the issue gained new political traction when presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., now a possible candidate to oversee U.S. health policy under President-elect Donald Trump, took to social media to call, without evidence, fluoride “an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss,” and more.

Kennedy has no formal medical or dental training.

According to the CDC, nearly 73% of the U.S. population relies on a community water source that’s fluoridated. However, the Fluoride Action Network, which opposes fluoridation, reports that over 240 communities worldwide, including 170 in the U.S., have rejected fluoride in the past 14 years.

St. Joseph’s Health is taking a proactive approach, offering fluoride treatments as part of regular health checkups for children, aiming to make dental care more convenient for parents who see their pediatrician more often than a dentist.

“More than 3,000 investigational studies ... done on this topic [say] fluoride is good for you," says pediatrician Dr. Bushra Javaid. "There are myths that to it can cause kidney cancer, attention span, and so many other problems, but it has never been proved. And it is perfectly safe.”

While the potential for fluoride toxicity does exist, as noted by the Cleveland Clinic, you would have to consume an extreme amount of fluoridated water for it to have any harmful impact. That amount would likely cause water intoxication long before fluoride toxicity.

The National Library of Medicine published studies in 2020 suggesting that fluoride could be a developmental neurotoxicant — potentially reducing intelligence in children, placing it in the same category as toxic metals like lead and arsenic. However, following reviews determined fluoride should not be considered a developmental neurotoxicant.