LAKE MARY, Fla.  — Pointing to guidance from the Florida surgeon general and public feedback, the Lake Mary City Commission voted Thursday night to remove fluoride from the city's water supply.

Lake Mary now joins a growing list of local municipalities that have moved to do the same, including neighboring Longwood.

It was a move that Mayor David Mealor said was a long time coming.

“We started to really question fluoride," he said. "It has been a questionable topic for some time, and it just so happens that the infrastructure was at the point that if we continued the fluoride treatment then those systems would have to be replaced."

By stopping fluoride treatment, Mealor said the city will save about $100,000 in eventual repairs.

He also pointed to recommendations from State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo as a motivator.

“When the surgeon general comes out and gives us a guidance as well as at the county level, it makes our decision easier," Mealor said. "And it’s just one of those things right now where I think it will be reevaluated across the board.”

The American Dental Association, though, has blasted Ladapo's recommendation, caling it "misinformed and dangerous."

“The ADA believes in the use of proven, evidence-based science when making public policy decisions," said ADA President Brett Kessler, D.D.S. "For Dr. Ladapo to call community water fluoridation ‘medical malpractice’ and call on all municipalities to end its practice is a dangerous statement that stands to harm the oral and overall health of all Floridians."

Despite that, speakers at Thursday night's meeting felt otherwise and voiced support for removing fluoride from the water. One speaker, Nicole King, said she beileved it was safer to get fluoride from other sources — like toothpaste.

Lake Mary's city engineer said there are 0.1 to 0.2 parts of fluoride per million (PPM) naturally occurring in their water, and with fluoride treatment that number increases to about 0.7 PPM.

With the guidance from Ladapo and feedback in the community, city officials said it was easy for them to come to their conclusion. 

While she doesn't live in Lake Mary, King said she frequently visits the city, and was glad to see the City Commission make a unanimous decision to take fluoride out of the water.

Lake Mary officials say it will take about 30-60 days to flush the fluoride out of Lake Mary's water systems, and stopping fluoride treatment will save the city about $20,000 per year.