Is fluoride really the key to good teeth?

FLUORIDE stops the rot (Letters)? What rot! Birmingham’s water has been fluoridated since 1964, but the British Fluoridation Society has admitted systemic fluoridation is ‘the least important mechanism’ in preventing decay. In fact, decay in the city is up. Is this due to poorer families not being able to afford toothbrushes and toothpaste? Compulsory fluoridation violates our human rights and doesn’t do ‘what it says on the tin’.

JOY WARREN, Coventry. AS A junior dental student, we were told about the difference in the dental health of the people of North and South Shields, as the latter had natural fluoride in its water supply. I qualified as a dental surgeon at University College Hospital in London and moved to Vancouver, where my daughter was born. When she was discharged from the hospital, I was surprised to be given a small bottle of fluoride and told to add one drop to her bottle every other day. This was normal practice in British Columbia at the time. She has lovely teeth and has had only one filling as an adult. In contrast, her son, who is 13 and was born in London, has numerous fillings. Dr BARRY J. FIELD, Southport, Lancs. STUDIES show the biggest fall in tooth decay is in non-fluoridated Scandinavia. Medication should be prescribed individually, not given to whole communities with no control over the dosage. Water fluoridation uses fluorosilicic acid — industrial waste from fertiliser factories — and is contaminated with arsenic, mercury and lead. It is not pharmaceutical grade, unlike that used in toothpaste. As only just over 1 per cent of tap water is drunk, fluoridation is public money down the drain. A. WILLS, Ruislip, Middlesex.