The Florida Department of Health was honored to receive the 2017 State Fluoridation Initiative Award to leadership to show Florida continues to shine in the area of community water fluoridation. The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Dental Association (ADA) recognizes the contributions states and local communities make on behalf of community water fluoridation.

This award is presented at each annual National Oral Health Conference to recognize the state with the most new systems fluoridating and/or the state with the greatest population on fluoridated water in the past calendar year. This award also recognizes the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Oral Health Florida, the Florida Dental Association, the Florida Dental Hygienists Association, the American Fluoridation Society, the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association, potable water professionals, numerous other key stakeholders, associations and organizations for their dedication and hard work promoting one of the top ten public health achievements of the 20th century.

To find out more about the public health benefits of fluoridation, watch this video.