A decades old debate over fluoride in drinking water has resurfaced in Hillsborough County. Commissioners voted on whether to remove fluoride from the public water supply with supporters calling it a public health necessity and opponents warning of potential risk.

Hillsborough commissioners shot down a motion to remove fluoride from the county's drinking water. Why it matters: Conservatives have fashioned fluoride into an issue of medical freedom, leading communities across Florida and the nation to halt the practice of adding the mineral to drinking water.

The recent string of Florida cities and counties removing fluoride from their drinking water got interrupted Wednesday when a proposal to do the same in Hillsborough County died. County commissioners deadlocked in a 3-3 tie (the seventh member of the board,