Oral health is important throughout a person’s life. Fluoride exists naturally in nearly all water supplies. “Fluoridation” is simply adjusting fluoride to the best level that protects teeth from decay. Research shows that community water fluoridation reduces tooth decay by 18 to 40 percent. Water fluoridation provides dental benefits to people of all ages and income groups without requiring them to spend extra money or change their daily routine. By protecting the enamel of teeth, fluoridation makes it less likely that decay will develop into more serious dental problems that drive people to hospital emergency rooms where treatment costs are high.
Fluoride is one of many health interventions we benefit from each day such as Vitamin D being added to milk, Iodine to table salt, Folic Acid to breads and cereals and Chlorine to drinking water supplies and swimming pools.
More than 70 years ago, in January 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the world’s first city to adjust the level of fluoride in its water supply. Since that time, fluoridation has dramatically improved the oral health of tens of millions Americans. Community water fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proclaimed community water fluoridation as “one of 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.” Studies conducted throughout the past 60+ years have consistently shown that fluoridation of community water supplies is safe and effective in preventing dental decay in both children and adults.
Public Health England (PHE) has published its Water fluoridation: health monitoring in England 2018 report. The report finds evidence to support the safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation in reducing tooth decay, "especially among deprived communities."
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Missouri Health Talks on the Current Status of Missouri Oral Health – from Intersection, KBIA 91.3 – with Dr. John Dane, MO State Dental Director & Gary Harbison, MCOH Executive Director