Dental health

The most recent large scale study was carried out in Australia in 2004, by Armfield and Spencer. It showed no difference in dental decay between 12-year-old children who had been receiving fluoridated water, and those who had not. See details of this study.

New Zealand dental health statistics show that dental decay rates were already declining before fluoridation was introduced, and continued to decline at the same rate regardless of fluoridation status.

World Health Organisation statistics show that dental decay rates have declined all around the world, also regardless of fluoridation status.

No benefit to adult teeth.

  • The Canterbury - Wellington "study" exposed
  • The Hastings Experiment

    • Fluoridation causes dental fluorosis

    Dental fluorosis is the outward sign that has a child has consumed too much fluoride - it is a bio-marker of over-exposure.  In New Zealand, dental fluorosis statistics are lacking, even though the Ministry of Health acknowledges this condition to be an undisputed side effect of fluoridation.  

             
    Very mild fluorosis          Moderate fluorosis          Severe fluorosis                       Severe fluorosis

    According to the Ministry of Health, "The most recent New Zealand information indicates that about 29 percent of 9-year-old children in Southland who had always received fluoridated water had these changes to the tooth enamel. This level had not changed since several earlier studies undertaken in the 1980s."

     

    Thus, around 30% of children in fluoridated areas are showing signs of chronic fluoride over-exposure.

     

    The ESR report carried out for the Ministry of Health states that dental fluorosis is more prevalent in fluoridated areas than in non-fluoridated areas. 

     

    Dr John Colquhoun's published data showed 25% of children in fluoridated areas had some form of dental fluorosis, while dental fluorosis was absent in non-fluoridated areas, with the exception of children who had been prescribed fluoride tablets.

     

    The Ministry does not provide comparative data. The ESR report states that NZ likely mirrors overseas trends.

    Dental fluorosis documentary by Australian current affairs programme The Investigators, 1993:

     

    Comparisons of dental fluorosis between fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas:

     

    Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 1994.

    Benefits and Risks of Water Fluoridation - report prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Health.

    The National Health Medical Research Council in Melbourne undertook a review in 1999. It found that approximately 50% of children in fluoridated areas had some form of dental fluorosis and 30% of children in non-fluoridated areas had some form of dental fluorosis. They also found that around 4-8% of children had severe dental fluorosis, which was considered an adverse health effect. See NHMRC 1999 (page 182).