No to fluoridation

Published on Friday 15 February 2008 20:12

I understand that Margie Taylor, Scotland's chief dental officer, believes that adding fluoride to the water supply would be "beneficial and effective" in improving the country's poor oral health record. This follows a similar suggestion last week by Alan Johnson, the UK Health Secretary, who wants to add the chemical to the water supply in England. This suggests that neither of them has done much research on the subject.

The largest study ever conducted on fluoridation and oral health included more than 39,000 children in 84 locations throughout the United States. The results showed there was no difference in tooth decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.

A report in last month's issue of Scientific American magazine mentioned a 16-year study which tracked 700 children for symptoms of fluorosis, which causes discolouration of teeth and damage to major organs. It showed that fluorosis was 50 per cent more likely among children who lived in fluoridated areas compared with children who didn't drink fluoridated water.

Tooth decay trends tracked by the World Health Organisation from 1970 to 2002 show that the incidence of decayed, missing, or filled teeth has declined in each of the 32 years in the US, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Iceland and Greece. Of these countries, only the US adds fluoride to the public water supply.

IAN GRANT CUMMING, Lilliesleaf, Melrose, Roxburghshire