Council Member Reignites Talks to Endorse Removal of Fluoride in City Water

Representative Levi Dean

At the August 21, 2025, Wilmington City Council meeting, At-Large Councilman Kelly Tolliver (R) invited Representative Levi Dean (R) to speak about Ohio House Bill 182, a bill that would prohibit municipal water authorities from adding fluoride to the water statewide.

Rep. Dean stated, “For me, it’s really just about personal consent and an individual’s right to choose medication that is forced upon them… We don’t put anything else in the water. We don’t put Ozempic in the water because we have an obesity issue. We don’t put vaccines in the water because we have a new disease pop up, so it’s kind of strange to me that we would put in fluoride for dental health.”

The bill is currently in committee, and the process will resume once the Ohio State House of Representatives returns from its summer recess in September. When asked what Wilmington could do to help, Rep. Dean stated that a resolution from City Council in support of the bill for an “individual’s right to choose” would be most helpful. 

At the meeting, Fourth Ward Councilman Bob Osborn (R) asked what the response is from dentists, and Rep. Dean stated that "some dentists" and "the opposition" believe it might lead to higher cavity rates; however, he believes that cavities are also tied to diet, lifestyle, and teeth brushing.

Rep. Dean continued, “There’s a lot of different avenues from which you can consume fluoride or apply it topically. Those avenues, I think, are a lot better than forcing every single person without their consent to consume it and ingest it.” He also noted that despite the intention of helping individuals with limited resources by adding fluoride to the water, cities are doing the opposite, as a reverse osmosis machine would be required to remove the fluoride, and they are not affordable. 

Regarding the past conversations in the city of Wilmington about fluoride, Council President Matt Purkey (R) stated, “I think that anytime you have a situation like this, we should let the science and the studies kind of inform decisions and change laws if science proves otherwise.”

Sharing his support of the bill, At-Large Councilman Tolliver stated, “Fluoride is the only medicine added to the water supply. It’s a drug as defined by the FDA, but fluoride ingestion or supplementation has never been FDA-approved… Putting it in the drinking water takes away your right to informed consent, and using the public water supply to administer any drug is unethical.”

At the conclusion of the conversation, Third Ward Councilman Don Wells (R) stated, “I would like to drink the tap water in Wilmingtion, but I don’t because of the fluoride, but then I drink bottled water and I read that we get these microplastic particles in our brain from plastic bottles, so I would really like the tap water to be safe to drink again.”

To learn more, reach out to current city council members or watch previous city council meetings at wilmingtonohio.gov.