Fluoride in Lawrenceburg, TN
Lawrenceburg once fluoridated its Shoal Creek water. In 2011 its utility board voted that practice out, unanimously — and recent testing finds no fluoride at all. Here is the record, and what it means for your teeth.
Lawrenceburg’s water is not fluoridated. The Lawrenceburg Utility Systems board voted unanimously on October 18, 2011 to discontinue adding fluoride, and EWG’s recent record lists fluoride as tested for but not detected. No current level exists to publish — so this page publishes none, and shows the history instead.
How this page works: the status below rests on the public record of the 2011 board vote, corroborated by recent independent testing — not on a marketing claim or a guess. Where Lawrenceburg once published a level, it is labelled historical. New to the topic? Start with our full fluoride guide.
Water quality in Lawrenceburg
Curious about your tap water? Tennessee Water Authority has the full Lawrenceburg water quality guide — contaminant data, utility details, and filter recommendations.
Lawrenceburg’s fluoride, by utility
Everything on this page traces back to these facts, from each utility’s own published water quality report.
STATUS Not fluoridated — removed in 2011
The Lawrenceburg Utility Systems board voted unanimously on October 18, 2011 to discontinue adding fluoride. No later record shows it restarted.
LEVEL No level published
Not fluoridated — no level
EWG’s record (2021–2023) lists fluoride as tested for but not detected. Historical only: the 2007 report, before removal, averaged 0.89 mg/L.
UTILITY Lawrenceburg Water System
PWSID TN0000392. Serves about 21,847 people and wholesales water to four surrounding Lawrence County systems.
SOURCE Shoal Creek
Surface water from Shoal Creek / the Lawrenceburg Reservoir, treated at the city’s own plant.
How the levels compare
A number by itself doesn’t tell you much. Here are the verified figures next to the three benchmarks that matter, each labeled for exactly what it is.
| Benchmark | Level | How it compares |
|---|---|---|
| Lawrenceburg Water System, today | Not fluoridated — no level | The utility has not added fluoride since the October 18, 2011 board vote; EWG lists fluoride as tested but not detected (2021–2023). |
| Lawrenceburg, historical (2007 report) | 0.89 mg/L avg | Range 0.644–1.13 mg/L — from before the removal. Shown for history only; it does not describe today’s water. |
| CDC recommended level | 0.7 mg/L | The target Lawrenceburg used to aim at — and no longer does. |
| EPA secondary (non-enforceable) standard | 2.0 mg/L | A guideline aimed at preventing cosmetic effects like tooth discoloration. |
| EPA enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) | 4.0 mg/L | The legal limit — a ceiling, not a target. |
One caution on paperwork: the Tennessee Water Authority’s Lawrenceburg guide labels this system TN0000239. That ID belongs to Fall River Utility District; EPA and EWG records map TN0000392 to Lawrenceburg, which is the ID this page uses.
Lawrence County is mostly one supply chain
Lawrence County Utility District, Loretto, Iron City, and St. Joseph buy treated water from the Lawrenceburg Water System — so the 2011 removal flows through their taps too. If your bill names one of them, this page’s status is your status.
Do you still need fluoride toothpaste?
Yes — and this is the point people most often get backwards.
Fluoridated drinking water is background exposure — a low level bathing your teeth through the day. Lawrenceburg’s water provides none of that layer: the utility stopped adding fluoride in 2011. What remains is the main event itself.
Brush twice daily with fluoride toothpaste. In a non-fluoridated city, toothpaste is not the backup — it is the whole daily defense, for adults and kids alike.
Fluoride and kids: the amounts matter
Young children swallow toothpaste, so the ADA's guidance is about using the right small amount — not about avoiding fluoride toothpaste.
UNDER 3 A rice-grain smear
For children under age 3, use a smear of fluoride toothpaste about the size of a grain of rice. That tiny amount is deliberate — it protects the teeth while keeping what gets swallowed to a minimum.
AGES 3+ A pea-size amount
From age 3 up, a pea-size amount is enough. A ribbon of paste running the length of the brush is several times more than a child needs.
- Supervise brushing. An adult should be watching (and helping) until a child can reliably spit and rinse on their own.
- Teach spitting, not swallowing. Spit the toothpaste out when done; swallowing it as a habit is what the small amounts are designed to guard against.
- Don’t load the brush. More paste does not mean cleaner teeth — it mostly means more swallowed.
What about fluoride varnish at the dentist?
An in-office fluoride treatment or varnish is a much stronger, targeted dose than anything in tap water or toothpaste.
With no fluoride in Lawrenceburg’s tap water, varnish is worth a real conversation at checkups — especially for kids and for adults at higher cavity risk: people with recent cavities, dry mouth, braces, or exposed tooth roots. It puts a much stronger dose directly on the teeth, exactly where a clinician can see it’s needed.
If your cavity risk is low, it’s also reasonable to ask your dentist to walk you through your risk before a treatment — in either direction, the decision should be explained, not automatic.
On a private well? None of this applies automatically
Well water is not fluoridated by any utility
Nobody adjusts the fluoride in a private well — or tests it, unless you do. Well water may carry naturally occurring fluoride, almost none, or more than you’d expect, and taste won’t tell you. This matters in Lawrence County, where a home can be minutes from a city main and not connected to it. Test your well water before assuming what’s in it, and tell your dentist you’re on well water so your fluoride plan is built on your actual water, not the city’s.
How to confirm Lawrenceburg’s level yourself
Don’t take our word for it — the primary sources are public.
- Read the utility’s current water quality report. A system that adds fluoride lists it as an additive with a level; Lawrenceburg’s reports do not, because the practice ended with the board’s October 18, 2011 vote.
- Check CDC’s My Water’s Fluoride. The CDC’s system-by-system tracker at nccd.cdc.gov/DOH_MWF lists fluoridation status and levels for community water systems. Search for the Lawrenceburg Water System (TN0000392).
- Check whose name is on your bill. If your bill names Lawrence County Utility District, Loretto, Iron City, or St. Joseph, your water is purchased Lawrenceburg water — the same not-fluoridated supply.
For the bigger picture — how fluoridation works, the arguments on both sides, and how to think about filters — see our full fluoride guide.
Questions people actually ask
Asked the way people actually ask them — answered from the sources cited below.
No. Lawrenceburg used to add fluoride, but the Lawrenceburg Utility Systems board voted unanimously on October 18, 2011 to discontinue the practice. Nothing in the record since shows it being restarted, and EWG's database (2021–2023 data) lists fluoride among the chemicals tested for but not detected in Lawrenceburg's water.
The vote was October 18, 2011. Contemporaneous Lawrence County reporting says board members considered a recommendation letter from State Representative Joey Hensley, M.D., urging that the practice be discontinued, and expected the change to save the water department about $22,000 a year. Nearby Waynesboro, Hohenwald, and Spring Hill made the same decision around the same time.
There is no current level to publish — and that is the honest answer for a system that does not add fluoride and whose fluoride tests come back not detected. For history only: before the removal, the system's 2007 report put fluoride at 0.89 mg/L on average (range 0.644–1.13 mg/L). That figure describes 2007 water, not today's.
If your district buys Lawrenceburg water, yes. Lawrence County Utility District, Loretto Utility District, Iron City, and St. Joseph purchase treated water from the Lawrenceburg Water System, so the water they deliver is Lawrenceburg water — treated without added fluoride since 2011. Check whose name is on your bill and whether it buys from Lawrenceburg.
Yes — here it matters even more. With no fluoride added to the tap water, fluoride toothpaste twice a day is the main daily cavity protection for you and your kids. Toothpaste delivers the concentrated dose directly to the enamel; there is no background layer from the water underneath it in this system.
The ADA's guidance: for children under age 3, use a smear of fluoride toothpaste about the size of a grain of rice. For ages 3 and up, a pea-size amount is enough. Supervise brushing, teach your child to spit the toothpaste out rather than swallow it, and remember that more paste on the brush does not mean cleaner teeth — the small amounts are deliberate, because young kids swallow some no matter what.
It is a conversation worth having. With no fluoride in the tap water, an in-office fluoride treatment or varnish is one of the main ways to put a stronger dose directly on the teeth, and it remains worthwhile for kids and for adults at higher cavity risk — people with recent cavities, dry mouth, braces, or exposed roots. If your cavity risk is low, ask your dentist to explain your risk either way rather than accepting or skipping it on autopilot.
No utility fluoridates private well water — nobody adjusts it at all. Well water can contain some naturally occurring fluoride, a lot, or almost none, and you cannot tell by taste. If your home is on a well in Lawrence County, have the water tested before assuming anything about its fluoride level, and tell your dentist you are on well water so your fluoride plan reflects it.
Start with the utility's current water quality report — a fluoridating system lists fluoride as an additive; Lawrenceburg's does not. You can also check CDC's My Water's Fluoride, which tracks fluoridation status by water system, and EWG's record for the Lawrenceburg Water System (TN0000392), which lists fluoride as tested but not detected. The 2011 board vote is a matter of public record in Lawrence County reporting.
Sources & method
- Lawrence County reporting, archived by the Fluoride Action Network — “Board votes to remove fluoride from Lawrenceburg water supply”: the Lawrenceburg Utility Systems board voted unanimously to discontinue fluoridation, October 18, 2011; fluoridealert.org/news/lawrenceburg-board-votes-to-remove-fluoride-from-lawrenceburg-water-supply. (FAN is an advocacy organisation; the item is a reprint of contemporaneous local reporting, and the vote is corroborated by the ADHA item below.)
- American Dental Hygienists’ Association (2025) — Tennessee fluoridation history: Lawrenceburg “had already chosen to discontinue community water fluoridation”; adha.org/hygienist-hub/five-to-four-win-and-warning-in-tn.
- EWG Tap Water Database — Lawrenceburg Water System (TN0000392): fluoride listed among chemicals tested for but not detected (2021–2023 data); ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=TN0000392.
- Lawrenceburg Utility System, 2007 water quality report — historical, pre-removal fluoride average of 0.89 mg/L (range 0.644–1.13 mg/L).
- CDC — recommended fluoride level of 0.7 mg/L for community water systems; fluoridation status and levels are also tracked in CDC’s My Water’s Fluoride.
- EPA — enforceable maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 4.0 mg/L and secondary (non-enforceable) standard of 2.0 mg/L for fluoride in drinking water.
- American Dental Association (ADA) — children’s toothpaste amounts: a rice-grain smear under age 3, a pea-size amount at ages 3 and up, with supervised brushing.
Method in one line: Lawrenceburg’s status comes from the public record of its utility board’s October 18, 2011 vote to discontinue fluoridation, corroborated by EWG’s not-detected record — no current level is published because the system does not add fluoride. We never name, rank, or recommend private dental practices.