UK - Daily Echo letters

Where is the research?
THE West Midlands, Newcastle-on-Tyne and West Cumbria have been fluoridated since the 1960s. Why has no research has been carried out in these areas and why treat the children of Southampton as 'guinea pigs'?
No records have been kept of children in fluoridated areas with dental fluorosis. In fact, the BASCD who carry out dental surveys for their league tables instruct the dentists examining teeth "to count fluorosed teeth as sound".
Alan Johnson, when he was Secretary of State for Health, said he wanted to reduce social inequalities in dental health and give poor kids rich kids' teeth.
Fluoridation actually increases inequalities, the York Review said one in eight children in fluoridated areas will develop fluorosis of "aesthetic concern". In other words, they will need expensive cosmetic dentistry to hide the damage to their teeth.
Poor people will not be able to afford to pay for this treatment, the current costs for veneers is £600 to £1,000 per tooth and will last for about seven years. Our dental adviser says he would not veneer teeth until the child reaches 20 and their teeth are fully formed and they, not the NHS, will have to pay full costs of expensive treatment for the rest of their lives.
It is ironic that many of the 'fluoride pushers' who cause the unsightly dental fluorosis are actually dentists. They are also the only people licensed to hide the damage by veneering the teeth - a 'nice little earner'.
LIZ VAUGHAN, director, UK Councils Against Fluoridation.