To the editor: I wish to respond to the recent letter referring to the vow of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's Health and Human Services secretary nominee, to remove fluoride from the nation's drinking water. ("Letter: RFK Jr.'s appointment raises necessary conversation on water fluoridation," Eagle, Dec. 4.)

The writer seemed to defend Kennedy's plan on the grounds that the government's forcing individuals to ingest fluoride is a violation of "free will." This is based on the writer's claim that fluoridation is a dental and therefore medical treatment. I think this is factually incorrect. Fluoridation of drinking water is preventive against tooth decay, not treatment.

As a retired dentist, I wish to inform the letter-writer that the treatment of dental cavities is the removal of decayed tooth structure and replacement with desired dental material, restoring the tooth to its intended function. The fluoride, incorporated into the tooth structure, strengthens the tooth's resistance to bacterial invasion. No one is forcing an individual to undergo such treatment.

I practiced dentistry in Pittsfield from 1965, before our water was fluoridated, until 2000. I have firsthand knowledge of the abysmal state of dental health in our area prior to fluoridation, especially when compared to today's much lower incidence of tooth decay.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral deficient locally because of the age of the Berkshire Hills. To deny its use in public drinking water, as Mr. Kennedy plans to do and as the letter-writer advocates, is to deny the advantages of fluoridation supported by decades of evidence.

Herbert Rod, Pittsfield

The writer is a doctor of dental surgery (DDS).