Fluoride to be added to our drinking water? (From This is Hampshire)

Fluoride to be added to our drinking water?

9:44am Tuesday 5th February 2008

• Print
• Email
• Share

Fluoride is back on the agenda after the man in charge of the nation's health said he wanted it added to water supplies.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson will argue this week that fluoridation is an "effective and relatively easy way" to help poorer children by preventing dental problems in later life.

At present about six million people in England, mainly in the north-east and West Midlands, receive water containing fluoride.

Children in non-fluoridated Manchester are twice as likely to have tooth decay as youngsters in Birmingham, where fluoride has been added for over 40 years, according to the Department of Health.

A York University study in 2000 found water fluoridation increased the number of children without tooth decay by 15 per cent.

But critics say adding fluoride can cause fluorosis, where teeth become stained and pitted, and has even been linked to bone cancer.

Mr Johnson said: "I want the NHS to do much more to prevent rather than just treat disease.

"Fluoridation is an effective and relatively easy way to help address health inequalities, giving children from poorer backgrounds a dental health boost that can last a lifetime.

"We have a duty to help the areas with the worst record on tooth decay to discuss this issue and take the necessary steps to improve their dental health."

He will make an announcement on fluoridation and improving the nation's dental health on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson is understood to want to encourage a national debate on the subject rather than force water companies to add fluoride against local opinion.

• Print
• Email
• Share