Government Plans To Boost Fluoride Reach in the North East
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- Published: Monday, 08 April 2024 09:14
- Written by Peter Ingle
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The government has launched a twelve weeks ’consultation’ to canvass opinion and support for proposals to supply an additional 1.6 million people in the North East with water containing added fluoride. Currently, around half the population in the North East enjoys the benefits of fluoride including parts of County Durham, Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne.
Nationally, around six million people live in areas where water is fluoridated and the government’s recently published Dental Recovery Plan (DRP) identified water fluoridation as a key weapon in its fight to reduce health inequalities.
The benefits of fluoride in preventing dental decay are proven and studies have demonstrated how fluoride added to water supplies benefits young children and vulnerable adults in particular. This is especially the case where policy targets deprived and challenged communities,
Whereas a survey in 2023 found that 16% of children in Year 6 in the North East had tooth decay compared to 12% in the South West, a Health Monitoring Report in 2022 showed 5 year olds in areas with fluoridated water in England were less likely to experience tooth decay compared to areas without.
As a consequence, they were less likely to be admitted to hospital for multiple extractions under GA.
Health leaders are keen to stress, however, that adding fluoride to water as a stand alone measure will not by itself be the solution to a disease that accounts for so much preventable suffering.
Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said "Water fluoridation can reduce the prevalence of tooth decay and improve dental health equity across the UK.
It should be seen as a complementary strategy, not a substitute, for other effective methods of increasing fluoride use such as tooth brushing".
It has now been 125 years since the effect of Fluoride on dental decay has been known to the scientific community.
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