By the 1950s, the U.S. government's Public Health Service and the American Dental Association acknowledged the success of water fluoridation in reducing cavities. This led to the broad U.S. adoption of adding fluoride in community water supplies and eventually its inclusion in dental products such as toothpaste and mouthwash.

You're not alone if you have questions about fluoride in your water supply. We reached out to experts to get answers.

Local governments in Florida and across the country recently have debated — and, in some cases, stopped — the longstanding practice of adding fluoride to water supplies. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has urged more communities to take that step, appearing personally at a hearing in Tavares late last year as the city halted the practice.

A Senate committee Thursday moved to advance a controversial fluoride bill after hearing from supporters and opponents and from those who assert system-wide injection of fluoride into drinking water violates bodily autonomy and self-will.

With the backing of Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, a Senate Republican on Thursday filed a wide-ranging bill that would bar public water systems from adding fluoride to water supplies. Sen.