UK Gov. Response to Fluoride petition

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Wednesday 5 August 2009
NoFluoride - - epetition response

We received a petition asking:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to not add extra fluoride to water supplies.”

Details of Petition:

“The Gov. is planning to add extra fluoride [Fl] the water supplies. On the surface, this looks great, however there are problems. Too much Fl can induce a disease, fluorosis. It is mostly found in young kids who can not handle the extra Fl. Dental fluorosis is a disease that increases the rate of decay. While trying to inhibit decay, the Gov. will be actually producing it. The best way to stop tooth decay for everyone is to brush your teeth and to not eat so much sugar. If people were eating less sugar then this would decrease the amount of tooth decay and fight obesity. Why do this when there are already much better ways of preventing decay? We already add chlorine to our water to get rid of things like bacteria. It is everyone’s right to have clean water. But the Gov. is going too far, trying to alter diet by water. Water should be as pure as it can so that then individuals can have the diet that suits them via food. Everyone drinks tap water but not everyone will require the extra Fl. Please do not add extra Fl!.”

· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response

It should be clarified that the Government does not have plans to extend fluoridation. The Government wishes there to be local consultations on proposals for new schemes in areas with high levels of dental disease, at which the evidence from research studies is made available for discussion, and both opponents and supporters of fluoridation are given a platform.

The attraction of fluoridation is that it provides for a public health approach that benefits all sections of the population, including people in areas of social deprivation who are most at risk of dental disease. Academic studies show that oral health is better in areas where tap water is already fluoridated. In practice the benefits are even greater. For example, children in fluoridated Birmingham have half the cases of tooth decay compared with children in non-fluoridated Manchester.

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, reducing tooth decay and thereby cutting down on the amount of dental work they need in the future.

There have been fluoridation schemes in the UK for over 30 years, and even longer in the USA, with currently over 160 million people in these countries drinking water with the fluoride content increased to one part per million – the optimum level for preventing tooth decay. No ill effects have been identified.

The University of York report A Systematic Review of Water Fluoridation, published in September 2000, concluded that water fluoridation increased the number of children without tooth decay by 15 per cent. All water supplies contain some fluoride and it was from observing different patterns of dental decay in areas of differing levels of naturally fluoridated water that the benefits of fluoride were first observed.

The York report found no evidence of any risk to overall health from fluoridation. Apart from the benefits to oral health, the only other effect observed has been dental fluorosis. Dental fluorosis is a mottling of the teeth, which is of aesthetic concern to very few people, and does not increase decay.

Dental fluorosis may develop if additional fluoride supplements are taken by children (under seven years of age) who live in areas where the water supply is fluoridated. It can also happen when children swallow toothpaste. In the UK, severe dental fluorosis is rare. Treatment for fluorosis does not usually require veneers. Often, where someone has aesthetic concerns it can be treated by microabrasion (rigorous polishing).

The petition is correct in noting that the main causes of tooth decay are consumption of sugary food and poor oral hygiene practice. The problem is that experience of oral health promotion programmes shows that it is very difficult to change behaviour in these respects. A strong correlation exists between tooth decay and socially disadvantaged communities, and this section of the community is the most difficult to reach with health promotion messages.

In March 2005, Parliament approved, with large majorities in both Houses, the regulations on the public consultations that Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) proposing to fluoridate their water would be required to undertake. Guidance on their implementation was issued to SHAs and Primary Care Trusts on 8 September 2005. It is the Government’s policy that no new fluoridation schemes should be introduced unless it can be shown that the local population is in favour.

On 5 February 2008, the Chief Dental Officer wrote to all SHAs. His letter encompassed guidance on a new legislative framework governing the consultations and assessment of public opinion that SHAs need to undertake when they propose to make arrangements with a water company to increase the fluoride content of a water supply. This guidance is available on the Department of Health website at http://www.dh.gov.uk (enter ‘guidance on fluoridation’ in the search bar).

In addition, the guidance announced that £14million would be made available in each of the next three years to meet the capital costs of setting up new fluoridation schemes that SHAs have shown, through public consultations, have the support of the local population.

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I find it strange that on some occasions the EU really seems to be able to make good decisions and on other behalf's they completely fail.
Comes good cop bad cop in mind.