Ireland - fluoridated but still bad teeth

Irish kids eat sweets but avoid dentist
[Posted: Sun 22/04/2007]
By Angela Long
Dental hygiene among Irish children is among the worst in the western world, according to a comprehensive report from University College Cork.
By the age of 15, seven in 10 children have had significant tooth decay.
And if it were not for the fluoride in our water, children would have lots more cavities and dental problems.
The North South Survey of Oral Health of Children in Ireland was carried out by the Oral Health Services Research Centre at UCC. Nearly 20,000 children, north and south, were surveyed in 2002.
The researchers, led by Dr Helen Whelton, found that there was still a poor uptake of regular tooth brushing. Children's tooth-brushing habits here are at the level of those in Britain 20 years ago.
Irish children and teenagers ranked second in the world for daily sweet consumption at age 13, according to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report cited by the UCC survey. Malta had the dubious distinction of first place.
The WHO study also found that tooth-brushing frequency (twice daily or more often) was lower than average in the Republic for girls than in the other 34 countries surveyed (67% compared to 73%). However, it was around average for boys (54% compared with 52%).
The findings supported the use of fluoride. Decay levels were much lower in 2002 than they were in 1984 among Irish children with fluoridated domestic water supplies.
The author of the study, Helen Whelton, said worries over fluorosis, a staining of the teeth cause by fluoride, should be balanced against prevention of caries.
Helen Whelton of UCC

"The magnitude of concern that a population of people may have for greater (more severe) levels of enamel fluorosis must be weighed against concern for a certain level of tooth decay," Dr Whelton said. Her centre is continuing to investigate the cosmetic effect of what they describe as mild enamel fluorosis.

One issue is whether fluoride toothpaste is a good thing. Research in counties Sligo and Leitrim found that eight-year-old children who had used such toothpaste in infancy had a high incidence of fluorosis.
Given our poor dietary and oral hygiene practices we are lucky to have water fluoridation to control dental caries," Dr Whelton said. "The potential health gain from better dietary and oral hygiene habits is vast, and better prevention and treatment for dental trauma is needed."
The study also showed a national reluctance to visit the dentist, which is reflected in the young. Only 42% of eight-year-olds and 50% of 15-year-olds visit the dentist once a year. In Northern Ireland, the respective figures are 92% and 91%.
Likewise, in the Republic 18% of 15-year-olds had never been to a dentist, compared to 2% in the North.
Dr Whelton said the level of decay here was remarkably low considering such figures, and fluoride was likely to be the reason. She said the dental service administered through schools in the Republic was good, but the overall system in Northern Ireland, which swings into action as soon as a baby is born, had better results.
As the WHO says:
“Every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than a diamond” 

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) in Don Quixote

Comment attached to previous report is interesting.
Joe(joet61) Posted: 20/10/2006 14:06
But hell will freeze over before the Irish health authorities admit that fluoridation doesn't work. Ireland is the only democratic country in the world with mandatory fluoridation of public water. The ONLY reason fluoride is added to water is that it's supposed to prevent tooth decay in children. Most of the Irish population have been fluoridated for the past 40 years (Dublin since 1964); currently more than 70% are being dosed with unmeasured quantities of the poison. (The fluoride added to water is hydrofluorosilicic acid, one of the most dangerous artificial chemicals known to science.) EVEN THOUGH fluoride is not a nutrient of any sort, and NO ONE needs fluoride, EVER. While 75% of 15-year-olds have tooth decay, more than 40% have dental fluorosis -- the first visible sign of fluoride poisoning. This is admitted (reluctantly) by the health authorities!