The study would not look at whether fluoridation prevented tooth decay. Photo / Thinkstock
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The study would not look at whether fluoridation prevented tooth decay. Photo / Thinkstock
Health data from New Zealand preschoolers is to be used to try to establish whether fluoride impedes child development.
University of Otago child health researcher Prof Barry Taylor said yesterday he was organising a multi-disciplinary team for a descriptive study using B4 School Check data.
Access to the information should be straightforward, pending the usual ethics approvals.
It was hoped results would be released within nine months.
The study would not look at whether fluoridation prevented tooth decay.
Prof Taylor said the evidence did not support fears of adverse developmental effects, and he suspected the planned study would not show these effects.
However, academics should not have closed minds.
"There have been many things in medicine that have not always turned out the way people want them to turn out. So, I always have doubt, about everything.........