Oral health inequalities a major issue in reducing extractions
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- Published: Tuesday, 06 October 2020 08:45
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Targeted Community Water Fluoridation (CWF) should be included in any programme to drive down the unacceptable level of dental decay in children, says The British Fluoridation Society in a response to the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FDS RCSEng), who were responding to a report on high levels of decay in children.
While supporting the call from FDS for the roll-out of supervised tooth brushing schemes in early years settings and for a renewed commitment to sugar taxes, BFS spokesperson Ray Lowry highlighted the important role of water fluoridation.
He said: “Water fluoridation requires no behaviour change and the evidence (1) shows that it is highly effective in reducing dental decay and delivers the most benefit to the most deprived. Let us not forget that the oral health of children in England generally is improving at the same time as worsening among those living in areas of high need. Work to reduce decay among the most deprived is ongoing and needs to be multi-faceted.”
Dr Lowry added: “Uncertainty over public health is a worry following the disbandment of Public Health England (PHE) but their work continues to inspire and inform. For instance, their guidance on water fluoridation for local authorities and water monitoring reports (2,3).”
“Following on from its excellent green paper on prevention (4), we would like to see the Government rolling back the cuts it has made to local authorities who have responsibility for public health and allow them to invest in areas of highest need. ”
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article-abstract/49/3/908/5826797 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-fluoridation-health-monitoring-report-for-england-2018
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