Ray Lowry, secretary and treasurer of the British Fluoridation Society, discusses the latest commitment to a north east rollout of UK water fluoridation by the government.
We didn’t make any assumptions in the run up, as you never know how high on the agenda these things will be.
Fortunately, the issue this side of the Atlantic has remained only mildly politicised, as contact with our colleagues over there can attest.
I started working on UK water fluoridation after I graduated in 1972. In 1990 we had a good go in the north east but it unfortunately failed; the legislation wasn’t right and the water companies were allowed to operate on a discretionary basis. There’s been various attempts to implement it so this news is a big move forward.
In terms of where it fits into the overall dental strategy of the UK, we all know several measures are necessary to make an impact. It can’t just be water fluoridation or toothbrushing strategies by themselves. If you’ve got a problem to solve, you want a multifaceted plan. This is a rational approach.
‘Pragmatic’ approach
It also has something in it for everybody, all demographics. The toothbrushing scheme is good, on-the-ground action. The fluoridation is dealing with the more macro, background prevention. And then there’s the boost in urgent appointments that are trying to improve access.
Hopefully, fluoridation will retain its key role in the nation’s oral and general health. New schemes need to be introduced where the benefits are greatest and existing schemes supported.
The roll-out should be evidence-based, pragmatic and part of an overall dental public health strategy. New schemes need to be properly evaluated to make sure they deliver what is needed and can be defended against those with an anti-fluoridation agenda.
UK water fluoridation ‘important’ for oral health
There’s a misconception that somehow, in the day and age, fluoridated water is passe, irrelevant, ineffective and not worth bothering with. This view has been talked up as time has gone by and has even become fashionable in some academic circles.
But this view often baffles clinicians who see the benefits of water fluoridation in their daily practice. For example, in the north east of England, colleagues who care for patients in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas can see the difference to this day, and with the naked eye it is so obvious. And cessation studies have demonstrated what happens now when the intervention is curtailed. No, as part of an overall strategy, water fluoridation has an important part to play today and in the future.
The roll-out in the north east rights a wrong that has persisted for decades. By filling in the gaps left after the north east schemes were introduced in the 1960s, postcode caries can at last be levelled up.
It is galling that nowadays the state of some of our residents’ mouths can be determined by where they have lived. It will be good to see the back of what should be an old-fashioned disease, confined to the history books, not still a topic for debate or lobbying.
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