RCS recommends water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay in children

The government has been urged to introduce water fluoridation across the country in order to help reduce the number of preventable cases of tooth decay in children.

A report from the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has noted that one-third of children in England suffer from tooth decay, despite it being 90 percent avoidable. It is the most common reason children aged five to nine years are admitted to hospital.

Water fluoridation schemes have been shown to reduce the rate of tooth decay, with the number of children aged one to four years in fluoridated areas admitted to hospital for tooth decay being 45 percent lower than those in non-fluoridated areas.

However, only ten percent of the population benefit from a water supply where the fluoride content is at the optimum level for dental health.

Professor Nigel Hunt, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons said: "We urge the government and political parties to recognise the imminent need for a comprehensive educational programme and roll out of water fluoridation schemes to prevent children from being hospitalised unnecessarily."

The need for wider access to water fluoridation is also backed by the British Dental Association, which has previously stated that "misinformation and scaremongering" has held back wider adoption of these schemes.