Targeted fluoridation is one of the best ways to ensure our children grow up with strong healthy teeth. In Birmingham, where the water has been fluoridated for almost 40 years, children's teeth are three times healthier than those of children living in Manchester, where the water is not fluoridated.
Worldwide, fluoridation is recognised as the single most effective public health measure to reduce tooth decay and improve oral health. In the United States, 43 of the 50 largest cities use fluoridated water, and South Africa has recently paved the way for fluoridation of all its water supplies.
Fluoridated milk
The BDA believes that targeted fluoridation would greatly improve the public health of the nation and provides both an effective clinical and financial way of reducing oral health inequalities. Fluoridated milk is one way of targeting fluoride so that its benefits reach those who most need it. Decisions on whether to offer fluoridated milk in schools are taken by local authorities in consultation with health authorities and involves wider consultation with schools and parents which the BDA fully supports. The BDA would be interested to see further research in this area, especially the results of trials such as those being carried out in Merseyside.
Fluoride as an effective way of improving oral health
Despite improvements in recent years, tooth decay remains a significant public health problem in the UK - particularly in socially deprived communities where as many as one in three children under the age of 5 will have one or more decayed teeth extracted.
Water fluoridation is one of the best ways to ensure children grow up with strong healthy teeth. In Birmingham, where the water has been fluoridated for almost 40 years, children's teeth are three times healthier than those of children living in Manchester, where the water is not fluoridated. Alternatives to water fluoridation include fluoridated milk - although in the UK fluoridated milk can reach only children in participating schools who drink school milk - and fluoridated salt which, though popular in several European countries, is not available in the UK.
The effectiveness of fluoridated toothpaste has been demonstrated in many large-scale clinical trials. Over the past 30 years, the reduction in dental decay in the UK can be directly linked to the use of fluoridated toothpaste. The use of fluoride in toothpaste has become a simple and efficient way of keeping teeth healthy, and its effects are additional to the benefits of fluoridated water, milk or salt.
York Review
The Government commissioned the University of York's NHS Centre for Reviews & Dissemination - with an advisory group chaired by Professor Trevor Sheldon - to carry out an investigation into water fluoridation, the results of which were announced in October 2000. The Review confirmed that fluoridation narrows the dental health gap between young children living in poverty and their more affluent peers.
The BDA accepts the York Review's conclusions and remains concerned that there is not enough high quality, up-to-date evidence available, since without it, the debate cannot move forward. The Association wants the Government to use innovative research projects in communities where oral health is at its worst and where there is local consent. It is only through projects such as these that the benefits of fluoride in water can be measured against other targeted ways of improving oral health, such as the Brushing for Life fluoride toothpaste scheme or school milk fluoridation schemes.
ENDS
For further information, please contact the BDA Press & Parliamentary Department: 020 7563 4580.
