According to a new study conducted by researchers from Public Health England (PHE) and published in the peer-reviewed journal of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, “Adding fluoride to tap water could save the NHS millions and dramatically improve children’s dental health.”
The results of this study fly in the face of many other studies conducted globally, and one has to wonder…
New UK Study Hails the use of Fluoride in Drinking Water
According to the study, which used national data to compare the rates of tooth decay and other health outcomes both in areas of England where fluoride has been added to the water and in those in which it has not.
The study found that fluoride protects against tooth decay, and that tooth decay rates in under-fives were significantly lower in water-fluoridated areas.
While many other studies have positively linked fluoride to various cancers, this study links water fluoridation to minimal decreases in kidney stones and bladder cancer and eve a small reduction in all-cause death. It also found no evidence that water fluoridation increased the rates of children born with Down’s syndrome.
This was a cross-sectional study with an aim to investigate any association between water fluoridation and selected health outcomes in England, where 6 million people live in areas where the level of fluoride in water has been adjusted to reduce the public health burden of dental caries. While it did check the dental effects of fluoride in the water, its mission was also to determine what if any, detrimental health effects or possible health benefits fluoride has on overall health.
Health outcomes examined were:
- All-cause death – Office for National Statistics
- Bladder cancer – English Cancer Registration
- Bone cancer – English Cancer Registration
- Dental caries at five and 12 years old – National Dental Epidemiology Programme for England
- Down’s syndrome – National Down syndrome Register
- Hip fractures – Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data
- Hospital admissions for dental caries in young children aged one to four years – 2012 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officers
- Kidney stones – HES data
- Overall cancer – English Cancer Registration
Dental outcomes are that water fluoridation was associated with a 28% reduction in dental caries for five-year-olds and 21% for 12-year-olds. The rate of hospital admissions for dental caries was calculated as a 55% risk reduction in fluoridated areas.
Researchers admit that once cannot definitively say that that fluoridating water protects one against kidney stones, bladder cancer or from mortality risk, as the decreases are relatively small and could be due to a number of factors.
I myself believe that there are sufficient other sources of fluoride, including in toothpaste, so I will continue to drink water only from my water cooler, thank you, complete with a triple-action carbon filter that filters out all toxins, including the fluoride that the government sees fit to introduce into my drinking water against my wishes.
Buy water coolers online at Living-Water store. Hire water coolers in London.
