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20 April 2006
Letters to the Editor
Warwick Daily News
Queensland is dragging the chain on fluoridation
Dentists believe Queensland is dragging the chain on fluoridation, not jumping the gun as suggested by your correspondents Osiecki and Russo (7 April 2006).
When every other capital city in Australia, except Brisbane, has been fluoridated for about 30-40 years it is nonsense to suggest Warwick is jumping the gun in considering what the Australian Dental Association strongly supports as a safe and cost-effective means of providing better quality oral health outcomes for all.
As a matter of professional interest, ADAQ monitors anti-fluoridation arguments and has not encountered any credible or valid reason to alter its pro-fluoridation policy.
Your correspondents question who is benefiting financially from water fluoridation. The entire community benefits, with less pain and suffering and less expenditure on dental visits.
The 2005 Forster Report said studies show six-year old Victorian children living in fluoridated areas experience 45 percent less decay in baby teeth than those in non-fluoridated areas, and 12-year-olds experience 38 percent less decay in adult teeth.
These benefits will multiply over a lifetime and across the population.
There are similar results when Townsville (fluoridated) children are compared with Brisbane (unfluoridated). We do not hear Townsville residents complaining about these outcomes.
Dentists have no hidden agenda in supporting fluoridation. We simply know – from cold, hard experience – that it is one of three proven tools in preventing tooth decay. The others are regular brushing and flossing, and a healthy diet.
With fluoridation, the available fluoride ion is identical to that which occurs naturally and any addition is strictly controlled by a Code of Practice which has been in place in Australian fluoridated communities for decades without adverse health affects.
Whether a baby or a thirsty athlete, it is physically impossible to overdose on fluoride by drinking copious amounts of water. A toxic dose cannot be gained from water intake because you simply can't drink that much.
The treatment of water supplies to provide safe disease-free public drinking water is one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. It is a shame that most of Queensland has waited until this century to have a chance to start accruing the full benefit.
Robert McCray
President
Australian Dental Association (Queensland Branch)
All of the information included on this web site is accurate to the best of knowledge of the Australian Dental Association (Queensland Branch). To make the text more readable for non-scientists, ADAQ has deliberately minimised attributions and links to supporting files or scientific attachments. However these sources are readily available if required and many can be found via www.health.qld.gov.au/fluoride. |
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