BDA highlights dental health benefits of water fluoridation

The British Dental Association (BDA) has highlighted a new study that shows the economic and health benefits that water fluoridation can provide.

Published in the British Dental Journal, the research suggested the NHS in England could save at least four million pounds annually on hospital admissions for the removal of rotten teeth if fluoridation were extended to areas with high levels of tooth decay.

Analysis of hospital statistics over a three-year period suggests that on average 6,900 young people were admitted annually for dental extractions in the largely non-fluoridated north-west, compared to only 1,100 admissions in the West Midlands in the same time period.

Although the north-west has a larger population, it is only one-third greater than the West Midlands, meaning this does not account for such a large and unexpected difference.

BDA scientific adviser Professor Damien Walmsley said: "This study is a powerful reminder of how water fluoridation saves the NHS money and how whole populations can benefit from a huge improvement in their dental health."

Most water supplies contain some fluoride and around half a million people in the UK receive naturally fluoridated water, but many artificial water fluoridation schemes are also run across the country, with the West Midlands' being the biggest.