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Tennessee Dental Authority
Fluoride in La Follette’s Drinking Water
Last updated: October 20, 2026
La Follette’s water is fluoridated. La Follette Utilities Board adjusts the fluoride in the water it treats from Norris Lake, and its LaFollette Utilities Water Quality Report 2025 puts the average level at 0.704 mg/L, with samples ranging from 0.57 to 0.91 mg/L. That average sits essentially at the CDC recommended level of 0.7 mg/L. That’s worth pausing on: most systems land above or below the target. La Follette is one of the few Tennessee systems measured essentially at it.
Water quality in La Follette
Curious about your tap water? Tennessee Water Authority has the full La Follette water quality guide — contaminant data, utility details, and filter recommendations.
La Follette’s fluoride, at a glance
Utility
La Follette Utilities
La Follette Utilities Board, Campbell County
Fluoride status
Fluoridated
The utility adjusts fluoride levels
Reported level
0.704 mg/L
2025 average; range of samples: 0.57–0.91 mg/L
Source water
Norris Lake
Treated surface water
Data year
2025
LaFollette Utilities Water Quality Report 2025
| Benchmark | Fluoride level | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| La Follette Utilities Board (2025) | 0.704 mg/L | Reported average; samples ranged 0.57–0.91 mg/L |
| CDC recommended level | 0.7 mg/L | The level health officials aim for — enough to protect teeth, low enough to limit cosmetic spotting |
| EPA secondary (non-enforceable) standard | 2.0 mg/L | A guideline aimed at preventing noticeable tooth discoloration in children; not enforceable |
| EPA enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) | 4.0 mg/L | The legal ceiling for fluoride in public drinking water |
Read plainly: La Follette’s reported average of 0.704 mg/L sits essentially at the CDC recommended level of 0.7 mg/L, and it is far below both EPA standards — the secondary standard of 2.0 mg/L and the enforceable MCL of 4.0 mg/L.
Do you still need fluoride toothpaste?
Yes. Think of fluoridated water as background protection: every glass you drink bathes your teeth in a small amount of fluoride, all day long. Toothpaste does a different job — it puts a much stronger dose directly on the tooth surface, right where cavities start. One doesn’t replace the other.
Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, spit, and you’re using La Follette’s water the way it’s meant to work: as the base layer, not the whole defense.
Fluoride and kids in La Follette
Children benefit most from fluoride while their teeth are developing — and they’re also the ones who can get too much of it. The American Dental Association’s guidance on toothpaste amounts:
- Under age 3: a smear of fluoride toothpaste about the size of a grain of rice.
- Ages 3 and up: a pea-size amount.
- At every age: supervise brushing, teach your child to spit the toothpaste out, and don’t let them swallow it.
Because La Follette’s water is fluoridated at the recommended level, kids here are already getting a steady baseline. That’s a reason to be careful with extras — follow the amounts above and ask before starting any fluoride supplement — not a reason to skip fluoride toothpaste.
What about fluoride treatments at the dentist?
Here’s the honest version. Fluoride varnish and in-office treatments are most valuable where the water isn’t fluoridated, or for patients who keep getting cavities despite good habits. In La Follette, with water sitting right at the recommended level, routine extra fluoride is less urgent than it is in non-fluoridated towns.
Less urgent isn’t the same as pointless. Varnish is still worthwhile for kids and adults at higher cavity risk — frequent cavities, braces, dry mouth, or exposed tooth roots, for example. The right question to ask is what your cavity history says, and a good dentist will answer based on that, not on a one-size-fits-all schedule.
The fluoride debate, without the shouting
Fluoride is genuinely debated, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Concerns raised in recent years — mostly about much higher exposures than anything found in La Follette’s water — have led some communities to revisit fluoridation. At the same time, the CDC, the ADA, and decades of research continue to support 0.7 mg/L as a level that reduces cavities with a low risk of anything beyond mild cosmetic spotting on children’s teeth.
Our job is the numbers, and La Follette’s are these: a 0.704 mg/L average reported for 2025 (samples ranging 0.57–0.91 mg/L), against an EPA enforceable maximum of 4.0 mg/L. Whatever your view of the policy, that’s the measured picture — and the sections above tell you how to verify it yourself.
On a private well near La Follette?
Well water is not fluoridated by any utility. Some wells pick up naturally occurring fluoride from rock and soil, but the amount varies widely and is often low. If your home is on a well, don’t assume you have the same protection as your in-town neighbors — and don’t assume you have none, either. Have the water tested so you’re making decisions based on your actual level.
How to confirm La Follette’s level yourself
You don’t have to take our word for any of this. Two places to check:
- La Follette Utilities Board’s water quality report. The figures on this page come from the LaFollette Utilities Water Quality Report 2025, published on the utility’s own site, lub.org — open it and look for the fluoride row in the detected contaminants table, which reads 0.57–0.91 ppm with an average of 0.704.
- CDC’s My Water’s Fluoride. The CDC’s lookup tool tracks which systems fluoridate and at what level. Search for La Follette Utilities to see its current status.
Want the bigger picture first — how fluoridation works, where the 0.7 mg/L recommendation comes from, and what the research actually says? Start with our complete fluoride guide, then come back here for the local numbers.
Questions people in La Follette ask about fluoride
Yes. La Follette Utilities Board adjusts the fluoride in its water, which it treats from Norris Lake. Its LaFollette Utilities Water Quality Report 2025 lists a fluoride average of 0.704 mg/L, with samples ranging from 0.57 to 0.91 mg/L.
Its average sits essentially at the recommended level. The CDC recommended level is 0.7 mg/L, and La Follette reported a 2025 average of 0.704 mg/L, with individual samples ranging from 0.57 to 0.91 mg/L. That’s unusually close to target — La Follette is one of the few Tennessee systems measured essentially at it.
La Follette’s average level is far below both federal safety benchmarks. The EPA enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) is 4.0 mg/L, and the EPA secondary (non-enforceable) standard is 2.0 mg/L. At a 0.704 mg/L average, La Follette’s water is well under half the secondary standard and less than a fifth of the enforceable limit.
Yes. Fluoridated drinking water gives your teeth a low, steady background level of protection as you sip throughout the day. Toothpaste delivers a much stronger dose directly to the tooth surface. Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste — the water and the toothpaste do different jobs, and you want both.
Follow the ADA’s guidance: for children under age 3, use a smear of fluoride toothpaste about the size of a grain of rice. For children ages 3 and up, use a pea-size amount. Supervise brushing, teach your child to spit the toothpaste out, and don’t let them swallow it — young kids who swallow toothpaste regularly can get white spots on their developing teeth.
Possibly — it depends on your child’s cavity risk. Because La Follette’s water is already at the recommended level, routine extra fluoride is less urgent here than in towns without fluoridated water. But varnish is still worthwhile for kids and adults who get cavities often or have other risk factors. Ask your dentist to base the recommendation on your child’s actual cavity history, not a blanket policy.
No utility fluoridates private well water. Wells can contain some naturally occurring fluoride, but the amount varies and is often low. If your home is on a well, don’t assume you have fluoride protection — have the water tested so you know your actual level before deciding about supplements or other fluoride sources.
Read the LaFollette Utilities Water Quality Report 2025, published by La Follette Utilities Board on its site, lub.org — the annual water quality report the utility publishes. The fluoride figure on this page comes from that report. You can also look up La Follette in the CDC’s My Water’s Fluoride tool, which tracks fluoridation status and levels by water system.
Sources
- La Follette Utilities Board, LaFollette Utilities Water Quality Report 2025 — fluoride average 0.704 mg/L (reported in ppm), range 0.57–0.91 mg/L, published on the utility’s site: lub.org
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — recommended fluoride level of 0.7 mg/L for community water fluoridation, and the My Water’s Fluoride lookup tool.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — fluoride maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 4.0 mg/L and secondary standard of 2.0 mg/L under the National Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Regulations.
- American Dental Association — toothpaste amount guidance for children (rice-grain smear under age 3; pea-size amount ages 3 and up).