More kids are in ERs for tooth pain. Trump cuts and RFK Jr.’s anti-fluoride fight aren’t helping.

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KFF Health News Mar 10 2026 Eight-year-old Jonah woke up one May morning with a swollen face and a toothache. He refused the pain medication that his mom, Geneva Reynolds, tried to give him. He didn't sleep or eat and cried constantly. Within a few days, Reynolds became so desperate that she and her husband had to physically restrain Jonah, dumping pain medication down his throat as he screamed in pain. "It broke our hearts," said Reynolds, who lived in Georgetown, Kentucky, at the time. "And I