NEW PLYMOUTH - A High Court judge, tasked with deciding whether it is legal for local councils to fluoridate, admits it is hard to know whether fluoride in water prevents tooth decay.
Justice Rodney Hansen told those at the judicial review in New Plymouth there are clearly two schools of thought, which have produced contradictory statistics on fluoridation.
A health organisation is challenging the South Taranaki's District Council's power to fluoridate Patea and Waverley's water.
While the debate is a legal one around councils' authority to fluoridate, the science of the matter has been addressed in the arguments.
New Health New Zealand's lawyer Lisa Hansen says the efficacy and safety of fluoridation is unresolved, so local councils should not be allowed to do it.
Furthermore, she quotes a study showing twice as many children get discoloured spots on the teeth, or fluorosis, when they drink fluoridated water.
However the council's lawyer, Duncan Laing, quotes research saying this is the only risk associated with fluoridation, and it is only cosmetic.
He refers to a number of independent and government-employed experts who say there is no alternative that better prevents tooth decay.
He says taking fluoride tablets, or banning soft drinks for example, would not be as effective.
Furthermore, free dental treatment for under 18s has not proven to solve the problem of tooth decay.
Mr Laing quotes a New Zealand Oral Health Survey which found 17 per cent of two- to 11-year-olds and more than 35 per cent of adults have experienced untreated decay.
He says there is a clear link between fluoridation and reducing tooth decay, and the decision to fluoridate Waverley and Patea followed a democratic process within the Local Government and Health Acts.
Justice Hansen is expected to release his landmark decision into whether it is legal for councils to fluoridate in the new year.
1 comment:
The council's lawyer has been very selective in his 'research' if he believes fluorosis is 'only cosmetic'. Clearly he hasn't seen the impressive results of the Scottish Childsmile scheme either if he thinks there is no effective alternative to fluoridation:
"He refers to a number of independent and government-employed experts who say there is no alternative that better prevents tooth decay."
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