There are many dentist and lay people who are for fluoridation of the water supply as well as many that are against.
Both side of the dispute seem to think they have the right evidence on their side.
What do you think? Should there be fluoridation of the water supply?
And in particular, should children be given fluoride supplementation in any form?
Why, or why not?
Comment Below To Share Your viewpoints and thoughts
According to the Cochrane Oral Health Group, fluoride supplements fail to reduce tooth decay in primary teeth, permanent teeth cavity-reduction is dubious and health risks are little studied (1). Further, "When fluoride supplements were compared with topical fluorides or with other preventive measures, there was no differential effect on permanent or deciduous teeth," write Cochrane researchers Ismail et al,
ReplyDeleteHi Nys, why do other studies seem to support the practice. And if you compare the volume of studies, which side comes out on top? I'm just asking, I don't know the answer to that question.
DeleteWell, there are studies which purport to show that fluoride supplements reduce tooth decay. But when the independent Cochrane group looked at those studies they found most were scientifically flawed. Often, if you take the time to read the body of a research article, you'll see that sometimes the conclusions do not reflect the research.
ReplyDeleteAs you probably know by now, some research is politically motivated to prove a pre-determined conclusion and funded by special interest groups.
The National Institutes of Health convened a tooth decay consensus group and found that most dental research is flawed and that included hundreds of fluoride studies.
The UK's York review found the research on fluoridation is seriously flawed
Even the chair of the US National Research Council's fluoride panel was surprised to see so little quality evidence showing that fluoridation is safe and effective. Most people assume such work has been done; but it hasn't.
The Robert Wood Johnson foundation was the first to describe the lack of efficacy of fluoride supplements. But like all negative fluoride research and reports, it was ignored.