Fluoride to be added to UK drinking water

Chief Medical Officers predict a huge reduction of tooth decay in children

Here’s a question for you. What is the biggest cause of hospitalisation for children aged from four to nine? The answer could surprise you. It is tooth decay and in the 2019 school year, no less than 23.4% of five-year-olds in England and 26.5% of four to five-year-olds in Scotland were admitted to hospital because of damage to their teeth. Tooth decay in children is a serious and growing concern, which is why Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England, along with his counterparts in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are recommending that, by adding more fluoride to water supplies, it will reduce cases of tooth decay in children by around 28% for the most vulnerable youngsters.

Fluoride is found to naturally occur at low levels in water and it is known to protect the health of teeth. The Medical Officers claim that evidence shows added water fluoridisation is an effective way to reduce tooth decay and to also improve overall dental health across the UK.

At the moment only around 5.8 million people in England drink water with added fluoride. It is forecast that this new, nationwide initiative will help to prevent tooth decay in children to a much larger degree.

At Carisbrook Dental we very much welcome this announcement and we firmly believe that the addition of fluoride to Britain’s drinking water will significantly reduce the alarming number of cases of tooth decay in children.

We are certainly well aware that tooth decay in children has become a serious problem, which is why we have already taken positive steps to address this concern.

For instance, we now have a dedicated children’s dentist on our team who is highly experienced in providing specialist dental care for younger patients. Together with the other members of our children’s/paediatric dentistry team, he can help children to look after their teeth with the minimum of stress and anxiety. They can even provide treatment under inhalation sedation to reduce anxiety in nervous patients.

At Carisbrook, we also have a number of services and options that are all designed to help prevent or treat tooth decay in children.

These include white fillings as a modern and effective way to repair damaged teeth. Our children’s dentist and his team can also provide onlays and crowns should a tooth or teeth be accidentally broken or if the tooth decay is too serious for a traditional filling.

The care and protection of children’s teeth is of paramount importance and the addition of fluoride to drinking water will of course help. At Carisbrook we are not only leading the fight against tooth decay in children and helping youngsters protect the health of their teeth … but we are also providing further reassurance for their parents or guardians that their children’s dental health is in safe hands.

If you are at all concerned about the health of your children’s teeth then we strongly advise that you make an appointment with us to assess the problem. The sooner that dental health problems are looked at … the easier, quicker and more effective the solution.
To make an appointment for your child you can call us on 0161 766 4906 or you can complete and return the online form that you will find by going to the Contact page on our website.