PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Glied, Sherry
AU  - Neidell, Matthew
TI  - The Economic Value of Teeth
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.45.2.468
DP  - 2010 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 468--496
VI  - 45
IP  - 2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/45/2/468.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/45/2/468.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2010 Mar 01; 45
AB  - This paper examines the effect of oral health on labor market outcomes by exploiting variation in fluoridated water exposure during childhood. The politics surrounding the adoption of water fluoridation by local governments suggests exposure to fluoride is exogenous to other factors affecting earnings. Exposure to fluoridated water increases women’s earnings by approximately 4 percent, but has no detectable effect for men. Furthermore, the effect is largely concentrated amongst women from families of low socioeconomic status. We find little evidence to support occupational sorting, statistical discrimination, and productivity as potential channels, with some evidence supporting consumer and possibly employer discrimination.