Seven Out Of Ten In West Midlands Want Fluoride In Water To Cut Tooth Decay
Seven out of ten people in the West Midlands think fluoride should be added to water if it can reduce tooth decay, according to a recent poll conducted by MORI.
Those who support water fluoridation outnumber those against by a margin of over four to one.
The figures are 71% in favour, 17% against and 12% with no opinion either way. They are based on the responses of a representative sample of 1,530 adults interviewed face-to-face during April and May of this year.
The results reflect those of regional and national polls conducted over the past twenty years, which have generally found between two thirds and three quarters of people in favour of adding fluoride to water to combat tooth decay.
In this latest MORI survey there was a majority of support for water fluoridation across all age groups in the population. The highest level of support (78%) was among 16 to 24 year olds.
Consultant in dental public health to Birmingham Health Authority, John Langford, commented: "This poll shows that there is still a massive majority of support for adding fluoride to water to promote better dental health."
Fluoridation schemes first started in the West Midlands in the mid-1960s, when they supplied water with added fluoride to Birmingham and Solihull alone.
Today, around 3.8 million people across the region are drinking fluoridated water. Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton are also now wholly fluoridated, in addition to Birmingham and Solihull and most of Coventry, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and South Staffordshire. About five per cent of people in Shropshire, mainly the Bridgnorth area, receive fluoridated water.
Children living in the region's fluoridated areas enjoy some of the best dental health in the country, with levels of tooth decay up to three or four times lower than in places like Manchester and Glasgow.
All water supplies contain fluoride naturally, although in all but a few areas of the United Kingdom the amount of fluoride is not enough to prevent tooth decay.
Through a water fluoridation scheme, extra fluoride can be added to that which is already naturally present. The optimum level for dental health is one part of fluoride per million parts of water.
According to the MORI survey, only one in five people (21%) is aware that fluoride occurs naturally in water.
Commented John Langford: "In some places, such as Hartlepool in the north east of England, there is enough fluoride naturally in water to provide considerable protection against tooth decay. But here in the West Midlands we have had to top up the natural level so that our citizens can benefit too.
I have no doubt that our local water fluoridation schemes have saved millions of teeth and will continue to save millions of teeth in the future.
If you live in a fluoridated area, you and your children are less likely to need a tooth treated for decay or extracted. It means less toothache, fewer sleepless nights and, importantly for children, less need to have a general anaesthetic for multiple extractions."
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,530 residents throughout the West Midlands region. Residents were interviewed in their homes, face-to-face, between 3rd April and 5th May 2000. Quotas were set in line with age, sex and work status population profiles within each Health Authority district, and data were subsequently weighted to these profiles.
