Canada - Fluoride cessation in Calgary negatively effects children's dental health: study

A new study comparing schoolchildren in Alberta found that fluoride cessation in Calgary has had a negative impact on children's dental health, adding to the ongoing debate over fluoridation.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, compared the dental health of Grade 2 children in both Edmonton and Calgary. Calgary discontinued water fluoridation in 2011, but fluoride is still added to the drinking water in Edmonton.

The researchers conducting the study compared data from dental records of more than 5,000 Grade 2 students in both cities from the 2004/2005 and 2013/2014 school years. They looked for an increase in tooth decay on the surfaces of the children's teeth

The students attended schools in both the public and Catholic school systems.

The researchers found that in primary teeth, commonly known as baby teeth, there was a worsening in tooth decay in Calgary since the city stopped fluoridation in 2011, compared to Edmonton.

Specifically, the number of tooth surfaces with decay per child increased by 3.8 surfaces in Calgary from 2004/2005 to 2013/2014, compared to an increase of 2.1 surfaces per child in Edmonton. This difference was statistically significant, the researchers said.

The average child of this age has about 20 teeth, with four or five surfaces per tooth, the researchers said....................

The researchers said several different factors could be behind this rise in tooth decay in both cities, including: the impact of the global economic recession of 2008; shifting economic conditions in Alberta (which is primarily based on the oil and gas industry); an increase in the ethnic diversity in both of these cities over time; and an increase in the consumption of bottled water, which is not fluoridated.

However, the reason for the increase in tooth decay in both cities is an "important remaining question," the study said.

Not very definitive then. With up to 80 to 100 surfaces a 1.7 surface increase with with many confounding factors.