{"id":2604,"date":"2025-07-29T19:02:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T23:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/norfolk\/?p=2604"},"modified":"2025-07-29T19:02:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T23:02:38","slug":"lets-talk-about-water-fluoridation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/norfolk\/2025\/07\/29\/lets-talk-about-water-fluoridation\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Talk About Water Fluoridation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"137\" data-end=\"303\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2605\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/223\/2025\/07\/fluoridation-rec-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/223\/2025\/07\/fluoridation-rec-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/223\/2025\/07\/fluoridation-rec-1-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/223\/2025\/07\/fluoridation-rec-1-768x539.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"137\" data-end=\"303\">Did you know that adjusting fluoride in public water systems is one of the most effective ways to prevent tooth decay?<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"305\" data-end=\"452\">For nearly 80 years, water fluoridation has helped improve oral health across the U.S.\u2014and the <strong data-start=\"400\" data-end=\"433\">Virginia Department of Health<\/strong> fully supports it!<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"454\" data-end=\"1113\">Here\u2019s what you should know:<br \/>\n\u2705 Fluoride is a <strong data-start=\"499\" data-end=\"518\">natural mineral<\/strong>, not a medication\u2014just like adding iodine to salt or vitamin D to milk.<br data-start=\"590\" data-end=\"593\" \/>\u2705 It\u2019s <strong data-start=\"600\" data-end=\"622\">safe and effective<\/strong>. Thousands of studies over decades confirm it doesn\u2019t cause harmful side effects at the levels used in U.S. drinking water.<br data-start=\"746\" data-end=\"749\" \/>\u2705 You still have <strong data-start=\"766\" data-end=\"785\">personal choice<\/strong>\u2014if you prefer not to consume fluoride, you can use water filters.<br data-start=\"851\" data-end=\"854\" data-is-only-node=\"\" \/>\u2705 Other countries use <strong data-start=\"876\" data-end=\"897\">different methods<\/strong> to provide fluoride\u2014like adding it to salt or milk.<br data-start=\"949\" data-end=\"952\" \/>\u2705 Fluoride in water + toothpaste = a <strong data-start=\"989\" data-end=\"1006\">double shield<\/strong> for your teeth!<br data-start=\"1022\" data-end=\"1025\" \/>\u2705 Local communities\u2014not the federal government\u2014decide whether to fluoridate their water.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1115\" data-end=\"1266\">\ud83d\uddb1 Learn more from the Virginia Department of Health:<br data-start=\"1168\" data-end=\"1171\" \/>\ud83d\udc49 <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/cwf\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"1174\" data-end=\"1266\">https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/oral-health\/cwf<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1268\" data-end=\"1344\">Let\u2019s keep our smiles strong, Virginia! \ud83d\ude01\ud83d\udc99 #OralHealth #FluorideFacts #VDH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that adjusting fluoride in public water systems is one of the most effective ways to prevent tooth decay? For nearly 80 years, water fluoridation has helped improve oral health across the U.S.\u2014and the Virginia Department of Health fully supports it! Here\u2019s what you should know: \u2705 Fluoride is a natural mineral, not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":670,"featured_media":2605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"modified_by":"tracygramajo","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Let\u2019s Talk About Water Fluoridation - Norfolk Health Department<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/norfolk\/2025\/07\/29\/lets-talk-about-water-fluoridation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let\u2019s Talk About Water Fluoridation - Norfolk Health Department\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Did you know that adjusting fluoride in public water systems is one of the most effective ways to prevent tooth decay? 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