Fluoride benefit to teeth ‘modest’

ADDING fluoride to water supplies offers only a modest benefit to children’s dental health, researchers found.

Scientists studied 3,000 youngsters in Cumbria over six years, one group in an area where water fluoridation existed all their lives and the other in a region where it had been reintroduced when they were around five.

In the former areas 17.1% of younger kids had decayed, filled or lost milk teeth while in the latter it was 21.4%.

But Dr Michaela Goodwin, of Manchester University, said fluoridation should still be “carefully considered along with other options” to protect children’s teeth.

The study also found 23% of five-year-olds in 2019 had tooth decay. NHS spends £1.7billion a year on fixing dental problems among youngsters.