Campaign to Combat Major "Health Divide" in Dental Health - Alliance of National Organisations Calls for Action to Unblock Fluoride Impasse

News release from the:

  • BRITISH DENTAL ASSOCIATION,
    BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION,
    NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HEALTH AUTHORITIES AND TRUSTS and
    BRITISH FLUORIDATION SOCIETY

Issued 1st November 1996


A new campaign to reduce dental health inequalities by extending water fluoridation is being launched today (Monday, 4th November) at the House of Commons following studies which reveal a five-fold difference in levels of tooth decay between children in different parts of the country.

Figures just out also show that children living in many socially deprived districts receiving fluoridated water have better dental health than much more affluent districts where fluoride levels in water are too low to benefit teeth.

Led by the British Dental Association (BDA), the British Medical Association (BMA), the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts (NAHAT) and the British Fluoridation Society, twenty health organisations have formed an alliance calling for action to reduce tooth decay in those parts of the country where it is still unacceptably high.

All the members of the alliance want existing legislation amended to make it mandatory on water companies to fluoridate water when requested by local health authorities. They point to substantial support in Parliament for fluoridation, with a British Dental Association survey of Ws finding a two thirds majority of them in favour of this public health measure.

The call for action comes after a NAHAT survey which shows that, following local consultation with the public, over fifty health authorities have asked water companies to add fluoride to water but have had their requests turned down.

NAHAT director Philip Hunt commented: "Under the existing Act, health authorities are vested with the local decision-making powers on whether there is a need for fluoridation in their areas. Water companies are supposed to confine themselves to consideration of technical feasibility but some of them are blocking the implementation of health authorities' decisions for reasons which appear to have nothing to do the technical aspects. We think the Act needs urgently to be reviewed to deal with this."

Echoing this frustration, BDA chief executive John Hunt said: "Clearly, the 1985 legislation isn't working as intended. But with our survey showing a majority of Mps in favour of fluoridation and with many of them expressing surprise at the difficulties health authorities are having, I hope the Government will look again at the wording of the Act to remove any possible misunderstandings or misinterpretation."

Studies show that where the natural fluoride level in water is topped up to the optimum of one part of fluoride per million parts of water, tooth decay can be reduced by up to around 50 per cent.

A University of York Health Economics Consortium research paper published today argues that these reductions can be achieved cost effectively, and that a fluoridation scheme serving a population of 250,000 can lead to potential savings of over £40,000 a year when the scheme's capital and running costs over fourteen years are offset against a reduced need for dental treatment.

Mike Lennon, professor of preventive dentistry at the University of Liverpool and chairman of the British Fluoridation Society, believes that extending fluoridation to many parts of the North of England, as well as to some very socially deprived areas elsewhere in the country, would do more than anything else to combat high levels of tooth decay.

He said: "If this country is really serious about reducing the number of children from poorer areas who are having decayed teeth extracted under a general anaesthetic, then we must aim to extend fluoridation schemes to at least another seven to ten million people within the next five years."

Among the many health organisations supporting the call for Government action is the British Medical Association, which would also like to see the Act changed to ensure that health authorities' decisions on the health benefits of fluoridation are not blocked by water companies exercising a discretion which Parliament never intended them to have.

Speaking for the British Medical Association, Dr Noel Olsen commented: "The BMA supports water fluoridation because research has shown that it is a highly effective and very safe way of reducing tooth decay. It also provides excellent value for money. Water companies must provide water which those responsible for public health consider is of adequate quality to protect children's health. The current law should be amended and the water companies should recognise that failure to act is contrary to the interests of public health and will damage individuals."

*** END ***

Notes to editors:

  1. You are invited to send a reporter to the Launch of the campaign in the Grand Committee Room at the House of Commons on Monday, 4th November 1996 commencing at 4.00 pm.
  2. The Water (Fluoridation) Act 1985 confirmed that decisions about whether or not local water supplies should be fluoridated lie with district health authorities. Water suppliers may then, on request by health authorities, add fluoride to the water. Some water suppliers are interpreting the Act to mean that they have discretion on this matter other than purely on grounds of technical feasibility.
  3. The twenty organisations making the joint call for action to extend the benefits of fluoridated water are as follows:
    • British Dental Association
    • British Medical Association
    • British Fluoridation Society
    • National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts
    • Association for Public Health
    • British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry
    • British Society of Dentistry for the Handicapped
    • Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK) of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
    • Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of the UK
    • FDI World Dental Federation
    • Health Education Authority
    • Health Promotion Wales
    • National Dental Health Education Group
    • NHS Consultants Association
    • Oral Health Promotion Research Group
    • Public Health Alliance
    • British Society for Paediatric Dentistry
    • Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
    • British Dental Health Foundation
    • Association of Directors of Public Health Medicine
  4. Around 5.5 million people in the UK currently receive fluoridated water. The majority of these live in the West Midlands and the North East.

For further information and to set up interviews in advance please contact:

Professor Mike Lennon, Professor of Preventive Dentistry at the University of Liverpool and Chairman of the British Fluoridation Society (Tel: 0151-706 5230/1).

Kate Cinamon, Press Officer, British Dental Association (Tel: 0171-935 0875)

Barbara Connah, Press Officer, NAHAT (Tel: 0121-471 4444)

British Medical Association Press Office (Tel: 0171-387 4499)

Sheila Jones, Information Officer, British Fluoridation Society (Tel: 0151-706 5216)

BFS
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