Australia - To fluoride or not to fluoride - that is the question and our deputy mayor says it must be asked

Deputy mayor Lisa Intemann

 
The highly contentious issue of water fluoridation hit council's meeting agenda again last week, with council re-affirming to conduct a community poll on the issue at the September 4 local government elections.

Council's decision caused backlash from fluoridation supporters including the Australian Dental Association NSW whose president came out swinging on grounds that water fluoridation reduces tooth decay by 40 per cent.

Statistics like that are such furphies the president should be ashamed.

In actual terms, water fluoridation can these days only be shown to produce an average of one less tooth surface decayed per child's mouth.

That's not whole teeth, but tooth surfaces, and hardly something to get enthused about, or justify forcing councils to add fluoride to public water supplies.

Water fluoridation was adopted as national policy around 2004, and has been pursued as entrenched policy since then to the detriment of the emerging science.

It is a magical idea whose days must surely soon end due to growing evidence of potential harm to general health from consuming fluoride, especially for the foetus and bottle-fed infants.

Fluoride toothpaste is a whole other thing, which is supported by some measurable evidence of benefit and doesn't involve actually swallowing the stuff.

What's needed is a genuinely independent review of fluoridation. A community poll giving people the arguments for and against, and asking their opinion, should be part of the process. Yes or No: Would you prefer council to stop adding fluoride (hydrofluorosilicic acid) to the public water supply?

Council was previously advised a community poll on fluoridation is allowed, so it's curious why there is now such an official fuss about us doing that.

Cr Lisa Intemann's views are not necessarily council's.