Fluoridation of the drinking water is a public policy whose aim is to improve dental health. Although the evidence is clear that fluoride is good for dental health, concerns have been raised regarding potential negative effects on cognitive development. We study the effects of fluoride exposure through the drinking water throughout life on cognitive and non-cognitive ability, math test scores and labor market outcomes in a large-scale setting. We use a rich Swedish register dataset for the cohorts born 1985–1992 in the main analysis, together with drinking water fluoride data. To estimate the effects, we exploit intra-municipality variation of fluoride, stemming from an exogenous variation in the bedrock. Taking all together, we investigate and confirm the long-established positive relationship between fluoride and dental health. Second, we find precisely estimated zero-effects on cognitive ability, non-cognitive ability and math test scores for fluoride levels in Swedish drinking water. Third, we find that fluoride improves later labor market outcomes, which indicates that good dental health is a positive factor on the labor market.

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氟化物对饮用水的影响

饮用水加氟是一项旨在改善牙齿健康的公共政策。尽管有明确的证据表明氟化物有益于牙齿健康，但人们对认知发展的潜在负面影响提出了担忧。我们在大规模环境中研究终生通过饮用水接触氟化物对认知和非认知能力、数学考试成绩和劳动力市场结果的影响。我们在主要分析中为 1985-1992 年出生的人群使用了丰富的瑞典注册数据集，以及饮用水氟化物数据。为了估计影响，我们利用了由基岩中的外源性变化引起的城市内氟化物的变化。综上所述，我们调查并证实了氟化物与牙齿健康之间长期存在的正相关关系。第二，我们发现瑞典饮用水中氟化物水平对认知能力、非认知能力和数学考试成绩的精确估计为零影响。第三，我们发现氟化物改善了后期劳动力市场的结果，这表明良好的牙齿健康是劳动力市场的积极因素。