Institute of Medicine of Chicago Hosts Webinar on Fluoride: Facts & Myths on Nov. 18, 2025–Dr. Steven M. Levy, DDS, MPH

Understand the Benefits & Risks of Fluoridation - Join the Discussion

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, November 7, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Institute of Medicine of Chicago (IOMC) is hosting a webinar on ‘Fluoride: Facts & Myths’ on Nov. 18, 2025, with Dr. Steven M. Levy, DDS, MPH, University of Iowa. Open to all to converse on the benefits and risks of fluoridation—more details and to register here.

This webinar addresses the different aspects of fluoridation, their effectiveness in dental caries prevention, and their risks. It also includes interpreting the evidence based on fluoride and IQ.

Some major concerns include excessive fluoride intake and related toxicity, which were raised worldwide, leading several countries to ban fluoridation. Health-care professionals and the public need guidance on the debate over fluoridation [NIH Library of Science].

OBJECTIVES
By attending this session, you will be able to:

• Describe fluoride’s benefits, early and recent studies of water fluoridation’s effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and cost-savings, current recommendations, and the likely impact and costs of discontinuing water fluoridation.
• State the adverse health claims made against community water fluoridation, including recent claims regarding fluoride’s effects, with emphasis on IQ and neurodevelopment.
• Identify the recent studies and reports critical of water fluoridation, including the National Toxicology Program’s Fluoride Monograph, the lawsuit brought against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the JAMA Pediatrics meta-analysis, including their claims, methodological limitations, and implications for community water fluoridation.
• Relate to recent key studies supporting continued water fluoridation, including the Kumar et al. meta-analysis and Do et al. study, as well as Dr. Levy’s JAMA Pediatrics editorial critiquing its meta-analysis, and implications for community water fluoridation.

SPEAKER
Steven M. Levy, DDS, MPH, is the Wright-Bush-Shreves Endowed Professor of Research in the Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and also has an appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at the College of Public Health. He is a past president of the American Board of Dental Public Health, serves on the National Fluoride Advisory Committee of the American Dental Association, and has been a consultant to CDC, NIDCR, and other US and Canadian federal agencies. He has researched numerous aspects of fluoride, dental caries, dental fluorosis, and bone development, and their relationships.

He was a long-term Principal Investigator of the NIDCR-funded Iowa Fluoride Study and Iowa Bone Development Study and is Iowa Site-PI of the multi-site “Caries Risk Study” with overall PI Margherita Fontana. He is the author of an editorial in JAMA Pediatrics, Jan. 6.2025, responding to the meta-analysis from NTP published in that issue on fluoride and IQ.

MISSION and PROGRAMMATIC FOCUS

Advancing health equity by reducing healthcare disparities.

The Institute of Medicine of Chicago (IOMC), since 1915, is an independent 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization of distinguished leaders in the health field who collaborate to improve the health of the public. Drawing on the expertise of a diverse membership and other regional leaders, the IOMC addresses critical health issues through a range of interdisciplinary approaches, including education, research, the dissemination of trusted information, and community engagement. To learn more about the Institute’s initiatives and how to get involved, visit www.iomc.org.

Media Contact:
Deborah J. Hodges
312.709.2685
dhodges@iomc.org
Interviews available upon request.

Deborah J Hodges
Institute of Medicine of Chicago
+1 312-709-2685
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