Vote Fluoride :: Support

Hilary Strang

The Southland Branch of the New Zealand Dental Association endorses the forth-coming Fluoride Referendum.

As dentists we believe it is very beneficial for fluoride to be added to the drinking water of New Zealand communities. Scientific evidence clearly shows that the addition of fluoride to drinking water is safe for our health. Fluoridated water benefits all members of the community, with particular efficacy for children and the elderly population. It is shown that fluoridation has an even greater benefit of decay reduction in children from lower socio-economic groups in New Zealand (Treasure et al 1992). The number of elderly people with their own teeth is expected to rise dramatically over the next fifty years. Prevalence studies show fewer root caries lesions among older people in fluoridated communities (Thompson 1997).

The measurement of dental health by dentists and researchers is most commonly taken as the number of decayed, missing or filled teeth per person. The lifetime benefit from drinking fluoridated water is estimated to be the prevention of 2.4 to 12.0 decayed, missing or filled teeth per person (PHC 1994). It is estimated that water fluoridation prevents between 58,000 and 267,000 decayed, missing or filled teeth in New Zealand per year (PHC 1994). A review undertaken of the efficacy of water fluoridation in Australia, Britain, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States concluded that the current data show consistently and substantially lower decay prevalence in fluoridated communities (Newburn 1989).

The beneficial effects of water fluoridation for our children's teeth are well documented. Fluoridation of water supplies will also provide a good preventative measure for dental decay in the increasingly elderly population of Southland.

Hilary Strang

President,

Southland Branch of New Zealand Dental Association

Vote Fluoride :: Support, Compared to national statistics some communities within Southland and Otago have very poor oral health. Examples include preschoolers facing baby teeth extractions under anaesthesia, primary school students with multiple fillings and adults living with ongoing, chronic dental pain that may prevent them working. Otago and Southland District Health Boards have asked local councils to hold referenda to add fluoride into the drinking water supplies of these communities. Fluoride is recommended by the World Health Organisation and New Zealand’s Ministry of Health as a means of improving oral health.

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