Re: recent responses on fluoridation in the water
Sir,
Several weeks ago, the HealthSupplement published an interview with the president of the Irish Dental Association, in which he expressed his personal admiration for the policy of water fluoridation in Ireland.
Since then, several letters have been published which have raised questions in relation to this policy.
In the Forum on Fluoridation report of 2002, it was clearly stated: "The best available and most reliable scientific evidence indicates that at the maximum permitted level of fluoride in drinking water at one part per million, human health is not adversely affected."
The Expert Body on Fluorides and Health continues to monitor the worldwide research. There have been no changes in the evidence base in the four years since the forum reported. There is overwhelming evidence that water fluoridation significantly benefits dental health and, through this, benefits overall health.
On the question of reconstituting infant formula, the forum report recommends using boiled tap water.
Bottled water is generally not advised for use other than in exceptional circumstances such as where home water is unfit to drink. In such situations, the advice of a public health nurse or paediatrician should be sought as to suitable bottled waters available at the time. Many bottled waters are unsuitable for reconstituting infant formula due to high concentrations of sodium and other ions which may be harmful to an infant over prolonged periods of usage.
Fluoride in tap water in the concentrations used in water fluoridation poses no known medical problems for infants or the population in general.
There is no doubt about the effectiveness of water fluoridation in reducing levels of dental decay in Ireland.
Surveys throughout the 1980s, 1990s and the current decade have clearly demonstrated the benefits of this policy for children and for adult dental health.
There is no scientific evidence that water fluoridation causes any adverse medical effects in the 60 years since it began. There have been over a dozen major national and international commissions worldwide that have examined the policy and found it to be both safe and effective.
Dr Seamus O'Hickey, Chairman, Irish Expert Body on Fluorides and Health, Dublin
Sir,
In your past two editions, you have printed letters critical of the Irish public health policy of fluoridation of water supplies. Let me balance the debate a little.
This policy was introduced in the 1960s in an attempt to reduce the very high levels of tooth decay prevalent in this country at the time. It has been hugely successful in that regard, reducing levels of decay by more than 50 per cent.
As with all public health measures, the more successful they are, the less the current need for them appears to be. But current improved dental health should not diminish fluoridation's past effectiveness.
When it was first introduced in Ireland, far fewer people brushed their teeth with fluoride toothpaste. This is no longer the case and now use of toothpaste has superseded fluoridated water as the commonest means of ingestion of fluoride.
Perhaps Ireland no longer needs the same levels of fluoride in water as we did in the 1960s, but it is because fluoridation has been such a success, and not in spite of it, that this is the case.
Catherine Jordan, Cavan
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